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How This Entrepreneur Went From One Employee in a Dark Basement to Raising $3.3 Million Roy Pereira says to remain steadfast in your vision, you may have to indulge a little delusion.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In this video, Entrepreneur Network partner MaRS Discovery District talks with Roy Pereira, the founder and CEO of Zoom.ai.

The company is focused on using chat and artificial intelligence to improve productivity. Pereira talks about jumping into startups in the past thinking each company would secure funds easily. This was not the case. The beginning days were more categorized by sitting in a basement, drinking coffee and grinding out the work.

These less exciting and formative times eventually lead Pereira to realize the importance of grit and intuition, even if those close to you doubt you. Once a company of one person, now Zoom.ai has 12 team members. That determination to keep going despite pushback and doubt from others helped Pereira raise $3.3 million in funding, so far.

Click on the video to hear more about grit.

Related: This Program Will Give $1 Million to a Woman-Led Cleantech Business

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MaRS Discovery District is the world’s largest urban innovation hub. Located in the heart of Toronto, MaRS supports impact-driven startups tackling key societal challenges in the health, cleantech, fintech and enterprise sectors.

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