My partner left a comfy management consulting job to co-found our business and we constantly argued about taking external investment at the beginning. She felt compelled to seek it, even though we didn't need it. I'm convinced it was due to the prestige of receiving investment - instead of telling her old coworkers "I've started a little company," she could say "I've raised half a million dollars for my startup." Thankfully, I talked her out of it.

Now people come knocking on our door looking to invest. When you're solidly profitable and growing, suddenly these people looking to buy a chunk of your business don't seem like such a sweet deal - unless they really have enough capital and connections to safely push you into a much larger market.