Agreed wholeheartedly: success != raising. However, some startups do require upfront capital in order to succeed in the long run. One example is to come out fi

Agreed wholeheartedly: success != raising. However, some startups do require upfront capital in order to succeed in the long run. One example is to come out first in a land run, where there are multiple players with funding that are actively targeting the same market (with a huge upside). Another example are markets that are winner takes all. In these cases, it's optimal to obtain a warchest and grab as much market share as possible.