thing is, you should put the value of money in a more important position. If you are looking for fund, that means your "business" here need more money to start or level up otherwise you can self-fund. Under that circumstance, without the money, you can achieve nothing. To find VC for funding is a fair game in the end (despite somehow the connection plays an important role here). It is a open market, you need money, and they take shares. A business is a business not an idea because someone has to do it and someone actually fund it.