>them smiling as if nothing happened

that is the beauty of enterpreneurship here. You can try until you succeed, and a failure is just a step on the ladder to success. Burning through 4M is not even a noise in the humming of the money making Valley machine.

Poor choice of photo, perhaps. This wasn't a posed photo originally intended for the article. We were just smiling to look good for the camera.

I remember when my business went bust, the amount of stress I went through in those final weeks was so intense that the sense of relief I felt when it was finally over meant I was smiling during the post announcement beers. And that was my own money as well. Trying to avert bankruptcy is a horrendous experience..