Correct - execution is more important than $, but I'd say that 75% of the time, execution is the byproduct of some intersection of capacity and access to capita

Correct - execution is more important than $, but I'd say that 75% of the time, execution is the byproduct of some intersection of capacity and access to capital. Not always, but often enough. So if you're competing against a VC-backed startup, you have to be both frugal enough not to breach the walls of fiscal solvency and really wise about your features, positioning, allocation of efforts, etc etc etc because you'll never beat them competing dollar-for-dollar. Speaking more broadly, venture capital distorts markets. I've called it the "capital-accumulation-market economy" elsewhere and it continues to ring true.