And if I take away your 4 rounds of funding have I changed the viability of your product in the market place? Conversely if I fund you, does that in any way va

And if I take away your 4 rounds of funding have I changed the viability of your product in the market place? Conversely if I fund you, does that in any way validate your product? Nope. Paying customers do that I'm afraid. To suggest that a round of funding is an achievement in and of itself is to put it in the same camp as winning a business plan competition. Sure it might show that One person likes your idea, but that's pretty much worthless compared to paying customers.