I made it to the second round of Vibecon. the final was 18+, so we could not compete. fair enough. that changed the whole objective. we were not there to chase a leaderboard anymore. we were there to meet people, talk about what we were building, and see how the room actually worked.
we spoke to the staff, met builders who had been doing this way longer than us, and found people generous enough to share time, food, and advice. one conversation led to a pitch with a Z47 VC. we told him exactly how old we were and why we had come. he laughed and said we reminded him of his childhood. honestly, a good reaction to three teenagers showing up with way too much confidence.
Grad Capital later offered us $60,000 for 10% equity. we did not take it. it was a real moment, but giving away 10% that early did not feel right for us. the important bit was not the number. it was realizing that a conversation could be worth more than a train ticket, if you did not bullshit your way through it.