Why Founders Don’t Need Venture Capital to Scale

The Day I Broke Up With Venture Capital

Spoiler: It wasn’t me, it was them.

Yesterday, I was standing in a crowded trade show aisle eating what may have been the best ice cream sandwich of my life; creamy, clean, made by a woman who’d flown in from the West Coast just to scoop samples with her own hands.

We got to talking. She told me she once had a $1.5 million investment lined up - the dream. Then she spent eight thousand dollars on legal fees only to realize the deal was a trap. Predatory terms. Control disguised as capital. When she walked away, the investors got angry and asked, “Is that coming from you, or your lawyer?”

Classic Play: Divide and conquer. These guys definitely know all the tactics used to close deals, that is for sure.

She knew better, thank god. And that was the moment something in me snapped, actually, it finally clicked.

The Illusion of the “Smart Money”

I’ve spent months ranting about venture capital. My Twitter feed looks like a breakup diary: eighty percent complaints, twenty percent disbelief. Why do these middlemen, these professional gatekeepers of someone else’s cash, hold the keys to what’s “fundable”?

I fell for the hype. I convinced myself I needed a VC check because that’s what “serious” founders do. Even when my lawyer told me, “You don’t want VC money.” Even when my fundraising expert said the same. I thought they were just being kind, trying to cushion me from rejection.

And if you know me, rejection is rocket fuel. Tell me no, and I’ll build an empire just to prove you wrong.

But Then the Numbers Spoke

Yesterday, my broker told me our category is down and my company is up 129 percent.

Let me repeat that:

The market’s contracting, and we’re growing triple digits.

That’s when I realized: I’m an entrepreneur, not an employee of other people’s expectations. I don’t need validation from a room full of men; I need more raw materials, more hands, more hours in the day.

The Revelation

I used to think an investor was the shortcut to scale.

Now I see they were the detour.

The real shortcut is alignment — putting energy where it already wants to move. My customers, my category, my community — they’re all saying yes in real time. Meanwhile, I’ve been wasting precious bandwidth trying to convince people who were never listening.

So this is me, saying it officially: I’m done talking about VC.

They can keep their pitch decks and power plays. I’ll take my boots, my straps, and my attitude, and go build in the sandbox with people who actually want to play.

Because Here’s the Thing

VCs aren’t villains. They’re just employees.

Entrepreneurs? We’re the ecosystem. We don’t wait for permission. We make markets move.If you’re building right now, learn from me: Don’t waste a single heartbeat trying to impress the wrong audience. You don’t need a “partner” to tell you your idea has potential. You need a small group of believers that look like customers, friends, early supporters who see you, buy from you, cheer for you, and tell ten more people.

That’s your capital. That’s your community. Protect it. Nurture it. Build from there. Because the people who truly want to see you win won’t ask for your cap table, they’ll ask for your link.

So no, I’m not anti-investment (in fact, I raised almost a million dollars in 3 weeks from private investors). I’m pro-alignment.

And if one day I do find that elusive altruistic investor, great.

If not, I’ll just become her.

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