> I'm not changing it to be more corpo-propriate now.

Look, I'm not wanting to be rude here, and this is obviously all hypothetical since you're likely not actively pitching to investors, but if you were, being stubborn in this way would be a deal breaker for me as an investor.

I see all the reasons you have for keeping it, and they're reasonable, but the mere idea that that's a hill you're willing to die on is a red flag. I'd see this as one of many potential points of friction. Where else will you choose to not make compromises?

Maybe it's not rational on my part, but you're trying to convince irrational entities to part with their money.

You could look at it this way: if someone offered $17M to change it, would you?