The closer we get to Web Summit Conference in Lisbon, the more my calendar fills with things like “pitch practice,” “side event RSVP,” and “order backup chargers.” And the more I realize… this isn’t just about our startup showing up strong. It’s about me  showing up strong. This is my first time attending Web Summit as the founder of an Alpha Startup. ZillyPlanet, our adaptive STEM learning platform, is in the mix this year as part of the Impact Startups group. Which means ye

Sometimes, the hardest part isn’t solving the problem, it’s realizing you’re solving the wrong  one. I’ll be honest. At ZillyPlanet, we hit a serious wall while building our MCP model. Our prompts had the right intent, but they just weren’t landing. The model couldn’t quite “get” the learner's context. And no matter how many tweaks we threw at it, the results stayed... meh. Now, as both a CPO and founder, I’ve learned the hard way that stubbornly hanging on to broken systems

by Deanne Watt, Fractional CPO When you’re launching a software startup, should you chase traction or revenue first? It's like asking if...