I think he's focusing too much on the runway, and not enough on growth frankly.

Investors these days want a return on investment in 18-24 months, not 5 years.

I agree to a point - regardless of what investors want, I might want to have runway to give me more time to iterate and experiment with ideas before running out of money. My point was also that this particular developer would consume a huge amount of opportunity cost for other types of hires or expenses that would move the business forward.

Honestly, people in SV iterate with new startup ideas when the last startup fails.

Your first lover is never your wife.