You're not missing anything. It's kind of intrinsic to the system-- when you have VC that wants really high rates of growth then they will require/force the st

You're not missing anything. It's kind of intrinsic to the system-- when you have VC that wants really high rates of growth then they will require/force the startup to take a path that may be much higher risk but also much higher reward. When you are building a business, you have to make decisions that keep you alive. In the process you may have less likelihood of becoming unicorn but much higher likelihood of surviving. EG: I think VCs want you to take a 1 in 10,000 chance at being a billion dollar company, vs a 1 in 1 chance of being a $100M company.