I don't think assuming "positive intent" is the problem here. Read pg; he's talked about exactly this problem. A lot of would-be founders think that you "win" w

I don't think assuming "positive intent" is the problem here. Read pg; he's talked about exactly this problem. A lot of would-be founders think that you "win" when you land that investment and get some publicity. It's easy and alluring to think, "Hey, we got a Series A! We're millionaires!" when the truth is nothing of the sort. It's actually, "Crap... that's all the money we have to get us to that next goalpost that soooo far away." Taking investment is, at best, a necessary evil for startups. It's not a victory. It's never a victory. It's a compromise. It's "I just sold a hundred million dollars for a million dollars" - with the awareness that if you hadn't sold it, you wouldn't get the other hundreds of millions either.