# @martikabrianne on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcL3XXHMVDo
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69154006-martikabrianne-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/0c4752fff4.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-18T14:49:44.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Martika B. Jones (@martikabrianne) — https://gondola.cc/martikabrianne

## Caption

$1,000 helped me start.

$3,000 helped me make the leap.

So when someone says $2,000 “isn’t a lot” for a founder, I think about my own journey.

Early on, I won a pitch competition and received $1,000. It helped cover startup costs. It wasn’t enough to build a company, but it was enough to move.

Later, I received $3,000 from an accelerator program. That money helped me hire my first development team. It was the moment I stopped just thinking like a founder and started investing like one.

Neither check built my company.

But both helped build me as a founder.

That’s the part we miss when we judge impact by check size alone.

The better question is: what does this unlock?

Sometimes it’s not just capital - it’s permission.

Permission to start.
Permission to take yourself seriously.
Permission to take the leap.

That’s why I care so much about creating opportunities for founders today.

I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of what someone might call a “small” opportunity.

To me, it wasn’t small.

It was momentum.

So give if you can. Mentor. Make the introduction. Open the door.

You may not be funding the whole journey.

You might just be funding the next step.

And sometimes, that changes everything.

#FounderJourney #Entrepreneurship #GivingBack

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## Tags

givingback, entrepreneurship, founderjourney

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