The proper course of action is to work with the leadership to figure out when the expected critical points are for the business. This includes fund raising, IPOs, acquisition, or any other time when the company receives a valuation. The goal, for both the business and the dev team, is to make sure that the company has the best possible value at those exact points. You don't want to peek too early or peek too late. The proper course of action then is to prioritize things in accordance with how they impact those points in time. If one's coming up soon, prioritize the short term almost exclusively. If it's years out, plan ahead as a marathon, not a sprint.
For example, it would be a bad idea for me to say "I am not going to write any automated tests" for a 3-week MVP. That decision would lead to me producing nothing.
One problem in these discussions is that people quickly start using absolutist language, which makes it hard to find balance.