The best advice I got was from a VC -- he said, "I'm a salesman, my job is to sell you money".

If you look at it from that perspective, getting funding should be about as celebrated as the farm that buys a new combine or the factory that buys a new robot. You're celebrating a huge new liability on your books.

VC investment is something you buy that you hope will provide more value to your organization than it costs, just like any other capitol outlay.