Mariya Nurislamova, Founder of Scentbird at the Female Founders Conference

Early mistakes included spending a year developing technology without talking to customers, trying to monetize a recommendation system directly, and launching a 'try before you buy' model for full bottles that resulted in a high fraud rate.

After several failed attempts, the winning model was a fragrance rental subscription. This was inspired by advice to consider that people might want to change fragrances like clothing, leading to the idea of renting small supplies instead of selling full bottles.

The founder faced numerous rejections and 'crappy yeses,' including an investor offering a significantly low valuation and demanding advisory shares, and another offering office space in exchange for equity. This highlighted the difficulty of securing favorable investment terms.

Y Combinator was crucial. Despite two rejections, their third acceptance led to a move to California and changed the company's DNA. YC emphasized hyper-focus on growth, user interviews, and provided invaluable peer support and mentorship.

Key lessons include hiring 10x talent, having and communicating audacious goals, and only taking advice from individuals who have achieved what you aspire to. She also stressed the importance of creating scarcity during fundraising rounds.

Scentbird has grown from a small team fulfilling orders manually to a company of about 100 people, shipping fragrances to 250,000 customers in the US, and raising $25 million. They also plan international expansion.