Welcome to another installment of our "Build in Public" series, where we share the messy, unfiltered truth about building GYST. Today's topic: the kind of grit that doesn't make it onto pitch decks but probably should.

Dear VCs who think founder grit is just about pulling all-nighters,

I'm about to tell you something that won't appear in our data room, but it's the most important metric you'll see: I lost the same 20kg twice. And the second time, I refused to let a 6-month plateau break me.

Here's why that matters more than our MRR growth rate.

The Wake-Up Call

Five years ago, my doctor delivered news with surgical precision: "You have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. BMI of 31. Officially obese."

The prescription was brutal for a Brazilian:

Zero alcohol: goodbye, caipirinhas on Saturday barbecues

Minimal red meat: HERESY! Asking a Brazilian to avoid picanha is like asking a VC to stop saying "hockey stick growth"

Lose significant weight: the hardest pill to swallow

But I did what founders do with impossible challenges: I executed. Zero alcohol, minimal picanha, gym every day. Two years later: disease gone, 10kg / 22 pounds lost.

Mission accomplished, right? Wrong.

The Comeback Nobody Talks About

Success made me sloppy. Sound familiar?

With my liver cleared, I slowly relaxed my discipline. The picanha returned. The gym became optional. Within 18 months, I'd gained it all back.

The moment of truth came in a photo from a family trip. The guy in the picture didn't match the guy in my head.

This time, I knew it had to be different. Not just another quick fix, but a system that would last.

Round Two: The Plateau From Hell

I got serious. Medical support, daily workouts, tracked nutrition. Within six months, 10kg down again. I was ready to declare victory.

Then the scale stopped moving. For over three months.

Three long months of doing everything right while the number stared back at me, unmoved. Body composition improving? Yes. Strength increasing? Absolutely. My body was changing, but that stubborn metric refused to budge.

This is where most people quit. This is where most startups die. Not in dramatic explosions, but in quiet desperation when the metrics mock your efforts.

What GYST Taught Me About Plateaus

You know what kept me going? Building GYST.

Remember when our teenager called our branding "totally cringe"? That stung more than any weigh-in. But we knew we were building something important, even when the feedback was brutal.

The plateau taught me that real progress happens in the spaces between victories. When nobody's watching. When you're not sure any of it matters.

The Breakthrough (And What It Really Means)

Month 10: The scale finally moved. And kept moving.

Today I'm 20kg / 45 pounds lighter, healthier than I've been in decades. But here's what actually matters: I learned to execute without immediate feedback loops.

That's the grit you can't show on a resume.

What This Actually Proves

While you're analyzing our unit economics, here's what 90+ days of plateau taught me about building sustainable businesses:

I can execute consistently without immediate validation. Most founders need constant positive feedback. I've proven I can work for months when the scoreboard doesn't move.

I understand leading versus lagging indicators. My body composition improved during the weight plateau. Pre-launch interest is growing, well before our revenue metrics will reflect it.

I can restart after setbacks without losing momentum. Regaining 10kg didn't break me. Bad product feedbacks don't either.

I build systems, not just hit goals. Longevity is the goal; weight loss was the byproduct. Creator revenue optimization is the same: systematic, not sporadic.

The Real Test

Any founder can show grit during the highlight reel moments. Product launches, funding announcements, TechCrunch articles.

The real test is what you do during plateaus. When you're doing everything right, but nothing seems to work. When you're not sure your solution matters. When the only thing keeping you going is conviction that your system will eventually prove itself.

That's where the magic happens. In the boring middle, during the long stretches when success feels theoretical.

Building GYST has had its plateaus. Weeks of user interviews that contradicted each other. Features that felt like coding in circles. Investor meetings where our vision landed like a lead balloon.

But the same grit that got me through days of scale stagnation got us to our current alpha program with incredible design partners.

Why This Matters Beyond Health

The confidence from proving you can change, really change, sustainably change, translates directly to the conviction needed to transform an industry.

When you've rebuilt your relationship with food, rebuilding how creators think about business becomes just another system design problem.

When you've maintained discipline through three months of no visible progress, maintaining product focus through market skepticism feels manageable.

When you've restarted after complete regression without losing hope, pivoting after user feedback doesn't feel like failure.

The Ongoing Story

Neither my health nor GYST represents a neat success story with clean endings. Both require daily maintenance, constant optimization, and humility to know the work never stops.

The plateau taught me the most important founder lesson: the magic happens in the middle of the mess. During those long stretches when nothing seems to work but you keep showing up anyway.

If you've got your own plateau story, I'd love to hear it. These are the conversations that remind us why we're doing this crazy founder thing in the first place.

The best founders aren't the ones who never face plateaus. They're the ones who've learned to trust their systems more than their metrics.

P.S. - Yes, I still eat picanha occasionally. Life's too short, and some things are worth the conscious choice. Kind of like our feature development: intentional, not impulsive.