[jdh]

I agree, but I think there's a bigger problem.

I think first time entrepreneurs are prone to thinking that raising money is a win. Second time entrepreneurs almost never think that, they view it as an obligation.

A lot of young, first time entrepreneurs, if you told them: you can with certainty raise a $5M Series A, but with certainty the business will not work in the end, which you will figure out in 3 years -- they would still raise the money. They have a burning desire to to be a CEO, to build something, and they'll worry about the rest later.

In my view, raising money when you either have no idea if it's a good opportunity, or believe on early data that it's actually not (but you'll figure it out or pivot later), -- this is what I see in "fake it til you make it", "hustler" thinking -- is that when you're successful, you've now signed up to use some of the most productive years of your life chasing an opportunity that is likely not to be any good, when you could have held out for something better.

Happiness research indicates that people are consistently wrong about what's going to make them happy (or sad) -- the shiny new car will lift their spirits every time they get behind the wheel, but within a few weeks, it's just another car. I think this applies to fundraising as well: raising money for an idea you're not 100% convinced on has proven to tempt many founders, but in my experience, they later come to regret it.