My impression of the focus on exiting is that it represents the highest profile "winning" that a startup can achieve - it gets media time, [edit: possibly] larg

My impression of the focus on exiting is that it represents the highest profile "winning" that a startup can achieve - it gets media time, [edit: possibly] large amounts of cash and validation from others that the idea and business is "good". Growth is unique while an exit is even more unique.