There's one more thing that obviates the need for traction: social proof. If Marc Andreessen is investing in your round, the round will get done, it doesn't

There's one more thing that obviates the need for traction: social proof. If Marc Andreessen is investing in your round, the round will get done, it doesn't matter what your product, traction, team or technology look like. To raise money, you really only need to be exceptional in one of these categories (product, team, traction, social proof). Since everyone thinks they're exceptional, here is some calibration by way of analogy: it is the equivalent of getting into Harvard or getting 1600 on your SATs. That's the bar to get funded. The bar for success is 1000x higher. One of the comments buried in the comments section from Nivi(cofounder of AngelList) is actually pretty good.