I think there's a good lesson for startups building platforms: don't underestimate the importance of hustle. I met James and his team at a hackathon this past

I think there's a good lesson for startups building platforms: don't underestimate the importance of hustle. I met James and his team at a hackathon this past March. Twilio (the company I work for) was a sponsor, along with Firebase and several other API companies. I had never heard of Firebase, and I don't think any of the ~100 developers there had either. James and his team (~6 of so colleagues & friends) spent that weekend talking to every team there, understanding what they were trying to do and diving into their code. They were everywhere, buying beer, lending a helping hand, you name it. 3 months later, they raise a million dollars. Not a coincidence.