We started working out of a coffee bar, using our pooled savings along with credit card debt (representing about 7 months runway). We were introduced to a great Angel investor by a former boss who gave us glowing recommendations. This Angel did the seed round along with a small syndicate they brought along with. We subleased a super crappy office in San Mateo. Our MVP was quite successful, and we decided to go out for our Series A (using intros from our lead investor). Over the course of 40 days we pitched pretty much every institutional VC in the Bay Area (and every single one passed on us). Just about when we were ready to give up, the very first VC we pitched called us and asked us to come back and re-pitch. They ended up leading the Series A, and our existing investors took the rest of the round.