[beat]

This basic point is something I keep thinking, too… either you have your shit together, or you don't. If your fundamentals are strong, you should be able to get funding easily. If your fundamentals are weak, no amount of would-be cleverness will make funding viable.

If you want to impress investors, impress your customers.

Interestingly, this just falls out of something I've learned from years of developing big systems, which is that the line between success and failure is narrow, but the grounds on either side of that line are broad. So back of the envelope calculations that strongly suggest one conclusion or the other are almost always right, assuming there's nothing wrong with your analysis. Because of this, I've learned to not be pedantic about precision. Quick decisions are usually more effective than cautious ones.

Maybe that's why I've set out on a path away from the enterprise and toward entrepreneurship.