You're getting downvoted, but I have to agree to an extent. To be fair, many business/founder types also have a total lack of understanding of what it takes to get a startup off the ground.

The irony is, I guess, that most people involved in a startup don't know what it takes to actually get it off the ground, because the formula they've been sold doesn't really actually work, and they don't have the business (or technical!) savvy to correct course.

"business/founder types also have a total lack of understanding of what it takes to get a startup off the ground"

I would not totally disagree with this. But here's the thing: no-one really does. It's extremely difficult. If many people did know, it wouldn't be as lucrative. Being the boss is by far the hardest position in the whole endeavor.

That might be part of it, but it also speaks to an extremely common mentality among founders that they can (and should) get a business off the ground with only a tiny fraction of the capital that's actually needed to do so. They're unwilling to bootstrap, but they also want to build a business that needs $25m of runway with $5m, and take the rest out of their employees' pockets. There are four parties to blame for this:

1. VCs, who refuse to adequately capitalize their portfolio companies.

2. The cultural environment that encourages this approach.

3. The founders, for their lack of business sense and willingness neither to bootstrap nor demand adequate startup capital.

4. The employees, for going along with it.

Agreed.