[scott00]

If a company can get debt financing, it's a great choice for them. But there's not a lot of investors interested in loaning money to a company with no assets and little to no revenue. At least not at reasonable interest rates. And unreasonable interest rates can be problematic due to usury laws. The rigid repayment timing can also be problematic for the borrower. Equity is really a better fit for companies that have greater than, say, a 10% chance of not being able to repay their investors.

[leesalminen]

I used to think so as well. Anecdotally, my company has experienced the exact opposite.

Likely rare (and requires luck) but it can be done.