When my brother Jeremy and I used to argue as kids about which of us got the largest portion of ice cream for dessert, our mother used to say, "You get what you get, and you don't get upset." As first-time founders, we often fall into the trap of the dreaded ice cream dessert debate. We begin the journey with less personal and reputational capital, less experience and less confidence.

That last point is more detrimental than either of the previous two, and as a result, it can cause expectations and standards to be lower when it comes to the investors we work with.