Someone asked what I'd do if I were 17. I'd learn how to build LLMs from scratch, and then train ones as powerful as I could with whatever hardware I could get access to.
When a mechanical watch gets a full service, they take it completely apart, clean the pieces, and then put it back together again. This is (the components of) an Omega 552, one of the great automatic movements of the golden age.
It's very common for founders not to know how well they're doing. In both directions. It's obviously common for founders to be making mistakes and not realize it. But it's also surprisingly common for them to be doing great and not realize it.