Where are your investors getting money

The investors you are talking to -- they have duties investing other people's money. They have a strategy they've promised up front while raising which they have to follow through on.

If I give someone 5K out of my 100K portfolio and they promise to be a nano-cap fund, I except them to do that since that fits into my overall portfolio diversification strategy.

We recently got turned down by an incubator. We then realized that very early in the idea-space traversal we had actually dumped a couple moonshots for a more realistic business which we feel in control of and know people need. Them rejecting us meant that we probably had << 0.5% chance at getting really big. It also told us we had << 99.5% chance of meeting the zero line and breaking up in stress -- which for us is a good thing. We found customers early and they are so eager for us to rollout.

Know where the money you are trying to get is coming from and what's it's objectives are. Know what kind of a business you would like to make. And make sure there is a match before you take on work.