36 takes for one minute

It took me 36 takes to record a one-minute video for Y Combinator.

Part of the application is a founder intro video. One minute. Just introduce yourself and explain what you're building. Sounds simple.

The problem is English isn't my first language. Speaking naturally while remembering a script is way harder than I expected.

Reading it was too obvious. So I memorized it. Then I had to deliver it without sounding like a robot.

Sometimes I smiled like a weirdo. Sometimes you could see me thinking about the next word. Take after take, something was off.

36 takes later, I had something I was okay with. Not perfect. Just acceptable.

And I still got rejected. (You can read my whole application here.)

But here's what happened. That video forced me to articulate what I'm building in one minute, in a language that's not mine. I had to compress everything about Edicek into 60 seconds that made sense.

Now I can explain it to anyone, anytime, without thinking. Investors. Users. Random people who ask what I'm working on.

36 takes wasn't wasted time. It was practice.