Fundraising is not the product
Treating the round as the milestone is the most expensive mistake a Series B founder can make.
A round is not a milestone. It is a forward sale of optionality at a price that is mostly determined by how the market feels about your sector this quarter. It does not mean the business is working. It means someone with capital believes the business has a chance of working, at terms that compensate them for being wrong.
Treating the round as the milestone is the most expensive mistake a Series B founder can make. It re-prices the company internally — every decision starts being made against the new valuation rather than against the actual underlying business. People hire ahead. People spend ahead. People plan ahead. And then the next round, which is the real test, arrives.