Let's go to the original post [1]. Fred says "To my mind, maximizing runway is not the game startups should be playing. Getting somewhere fast is the game they should be playing." This is consistent with the VC playbook. They invest in high growth companies and want to fund expansion, not an extension of "As is".

Let's look at a few issues with the OP's analysis:

1) As others mentioned, there is a survivor bias.

2) Runway should be measured in months, not in millions. Size of funding to log size of exit is the wrong metric. Months of runway to IRR of exit is the better comparison.

3) I forgot what #3 was.

Even when the counter-argument isn't great, I still like the discussion.

[1] http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/09/maximizing-runway-can-minimi...