The first year is always the hardest. The first year of trying to get back into shape. The first year of learning a language. The first year of learning a new skill. For us, it was the first year of launching our company. While this wasn’t my first time starting a new business, I’ve learned that it doesn’t get any easier. You make same sacrifices of time away from loved ones, face internal doubts at 3 am in the morning, and you burn the midnight oil with faith that what you’re building will make an impact on the world. And it should be this hard. Because the rewards of building a startup are boundless. Every day we get to hear from real people on the other side of the world who love using our product, work to build a vision that serves a purpose and learn more in 12 months than we would have in five years. It’s a never-ending rollercoaster that brings with it ecstasy, pain, and fulfillment—often simultaneously. This is why we do our best bring you behind the curtains of our business to show you what it’s really like, and share the hard lessons we’ve learned. Here are 12 startup lessons that we’ve learned in our first 12 months.