Unable to solve their impossible problem, VV and Reza went out for a ride. Miles down the California coast, they parked their bikes under the eucalyptus outside a winery conference center. It wasn’t a random stop. They knew that FundersPlatform, a rival to their start-up, AndFound, was holding a networking event there, and they were curious about what sort of crowd it had drawn.

https://hbr.org/2015/11/case-study-should-this-startup-take-vc-money-or-try-to-turn-a-profit