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A comment on Ask HN: Are my expectations on code quality and professionalism too high?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Are my expectations on code quality and professio... by sanderjd on Friday June 05, 2020 @12:00PM (#23430007)
I think this is generally a great comment, but just to note: you seem to characterize the "5 months of cash" thing as a decision. But most startups fail, and all of those startups at some point (or multiple points) in time only had 5 months of runway left, which is not always (I would say not usually) because they decided it was ok to have that little runway, but because they could not avoid it despite their best efforts.

But you're totally right that this is not the junior dev's problem!

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Re:Ask HN: Are my expectations on code quality and professio... by yowlingcat on Friday June 05, 2020 @01:39PM (#23431363)
> they could not avoid it despite their best efforts

I think we're making the same point, but I don't disagree. I think this is what I'm getting at. A CEO who cannot raise and is at 5 months of cash left has a) effectively gotten a vote of no confidence from their existing investor base, or b) they are not asking because then they are delaying the inevitable and eventually impossible to ignore conclusion a). Not being able to avoid low cashflow despite your best efforts is a failing on the CEO's role. The CEO is the last line of defense in terms of responsibility, and fundraising is supposed to be one of their core competencies and responsibilities. It's why the job is not for everyone.

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