Eric Ries

And I think it's interesting.

I know quite a few companies like what you're describing where the fundraising was done for some other reason than for the money.

In fact, I know a bunch of founders who brag to me, we raised this money and never spent it.

Because it can make sense to have a fortress balance sheet.

But to me, the real question is not about how big or small is the organization, how much money was they raised, but how much control

do the people who are locked into that mission actually have over what happens next?

And sometimes when you raise too much money, especially too much money too early, you think, you know, you ring the gong and you're really proud.

It's great.

You know, like it's okay.

That's really fun.

But then like, have you actually, yeah.

Or yeah, I get the air hard.

I get you guys for the sound effects.

And like sometimes, you know, this is, you know, the media environment, like steadily building a product that people love day in, day out.

Like that's not the sexiest story.

And so sometimes, you know, we get we get distracted by all these other things that take us away from the one and only one thing that truly matters, which is can you build a great product, build a great company?

it's really confusing that's actually part of the reason i wrote the book book is meant to blueprint to actually show a new better way forward like the extreme founder control has its problems you know psychologists call it hubris syndrome not the name not to name check any particular founders but you know that can cause some issues but also investor dominated companies really underperform uh precisely because we have this financial system that pull has this

gravitational force that pulls companies down into mediocrity or worse and the book I document like over and over and over again we reenact the parable of the goose that laid the golden egg and just stab it right through the heart when we by removing the thing that actually made it worth investing in in the first place how many times have you gone to a restaurant and you like look on your phone you're like take one bite and you're like

Did private equity buy this restaurant?

It tastes disgusting.