Funding — it giveth and it taketh away.
Few things feel better than that first round because it validates your idea and sets it on a path. At the same time, your company is now on the clock with a narrower margin for error and limited flexibility.
And there’s plenty of evidence to show that funding isn’t a cure-all. Who could forget the Kickstarter misstep of the Coolest Cooler, which raised $13 million and has nothing to show for it? Or the Fidget Cube, the stress-reliever that brought in $6.5 million but was undone by the faster-to-market Stress Cube?
