There is one really strong reason to take VC funding: to eliminate all personal financial risk. See, personal financial difficulty is pure poison and if you can

There is one really strong reason to take VC funding: to eliminate all personal financial risk. See, personal financial difficulty is pure poison and if you can eliminate the risk of it entirely, then go ahead and work with a VC to do so. If your deal with the VC is going to allow you to move seamlessly from your day job to paying yourself enough to cover your living expenses (say, $10k per month) running a not-yet-profitable business, then take it and feel no shame. Yes, the VC is now your boss, but that's OK because you have the security of a typical job. Right now, though, the VCs only want to work with people who are already showing traction and don't need them. That's their prerogative, but that means that almost no one they want to work with should be working with them. If you don't need VC, then don't take it. It really is the capital of last resort. What you should never do is let VCs in to your bootstrapped business where you already took personal financial risk for over a year. You've put a lot on the line, while they're taking no break from their cushy $500k++ jobs. It's only fair, given that comparison of conditions, that they should be in the outer darkness.