Have you considered other sources of equity financing other than VC? As you rightly identified, "VCs I've spoken to want to turn up the heat and take the busin

Have you considered other sources of equity financing other than VC? As you rightly identified, "VCs I've spoken to want to turn up the heat and take the business to the moon, planet-scale growth or self-destruct". This is the standard mental model within the VC industry - that only 1 in 10 of your portfolio companies need to moon in order for you to return your promised 20% IRR to your end investors. So push all your companies to either moon or implode. Taking VC cash and aiming for the moon is SV dogma hence your SV friends insta-calling you nuts. There's no doubt that this model has been responsible for significant value creation but it's certainly not the only way to create huge value. Another category of equity investor is: individuals with cash (Angels, Family Offices). There are many within this category that are investing like VCs i.e. moon or bust. But there are also many within this category that are looking for long-term growth i.e. lower IRR with lower risk of failure. By the nature of them investing their own money, they will typically have more skin in the game than a VC and will able to provide more mentorship to you. We took seed capital from several different sources including VC (including Founders Fund) and angel investors. The angel investors have been BY FAR the most helpful. It's the classic 80/20 - most angels are completely disengaged, a few have had a transformative effect on our company. One more point, if you do decide to sell shares for money then do it when you are in a strong position so that you can get the most favourable control terms. There are the standard economic terms (valuation) that everyone talks about. But the control terms are just as important - be willing to take a lower valuation from an investor that is willing to have very founder-friendly terms. And another point, you can always consider debt financing if you have relatively stable cashflows. But at the early stage this usually comes with all sorts of strings attached which is why in the majority of cases a the early stage, founder-friendly equity financing is preferable. But keep an open mind here.