Once you accept cash from someone else, you give up some control and you get a giant ticking clock. Even if you're "successful" by most measures, if you're not successful by their measure, you might as well be dead.
When entrepreneurs who have accepted funding are not able to meet certain targets, they routinely get sidelined and/or replaced. I don't know why so many people here pretend that's not the case.
And I know even more where there isn't a clock. You can always pay dividends instead of selling or going public.
Too much hyperbole. For some examples see my previous comment.