Investment as a cushion or a springboard

A well written and well reasoned writeup.

From what I have read here and elsewhere, it looks to me like there are 3 possible outcomes from every startup(or business for that matter): 1)death/folding/quitting (probably the most likely outcome--although it doesn't have to be) 2)Being bought out and becoming part of another company's product(the goal of many in SV) 3)Growth into a sustainable business

Not taking outside funding forces the founder to really concentrate on those aspects of the business that can evolve the business into 3), a self-sustaining business.