Incentives matter. Early stage founders have one set of incentives: finding product-market fit. Founders who bootstrap have another set of incentives: making

Incentives matter. Early stage founders have one set of incentives: finding product-market fit. Founders who bootstrap have another set of incentives: making customers happy. Founders who take VC money have two sets of incentives: making customers happy and making investors money in a reasonable timeframe, which means certain amounts of growth. These incentives are sometimes aligned but can be at odds.