Vent: My Austin startup pressured me to fudge user metrics for investors

Honestly, pretending the numbers were real made me feel sick.

4 comments

4 Comments

Yeah that's rough. They asked me to bump up "daily active users" once by counting accidental app opens, and it felt so slimy. That sick feeling is your gut knowing it's wrong, and it sticks with you. Once you start lying about retention or growth, you're just building a house on sand. It never ends well.

laura_schmidt8224d ago

But everyone does it, right?

spencer_coleman1mo ago

Look, I get why you'd feel sick, but sometimes those numbers are more about showing a vision than lying. Startups in Austin are fighting for cash in a crowded market, and a little hope in the numbers can be the difference between getting funded or not. It's not right, but that's how things often work.

wesley_jones1mo ago

But is it really that serious? Many new companies make their numbers look better to get cash. Think about Facebook; they said they had more users than they really did early on. It's just how things are done in a tough market. If the product is good, does it matter if the numbers are a bit off? Maybe we make too big a deal out of it.