The moral obligation is to TRY to pay it back. I fully concede that it's not a black and white issue, but there's a big difference between refusing to pay a debt and being unable to pay a debt.

If you borrow money for any reason with the understanding that you'll pay it back, but you secretly intend to keep it all along, then you are doing something wrong (morally if not legally).

> If you borrow money for any reason with the understanding that you'll pay it back, but you secretly intend to keep it all along, then you are doing something wrong (morally if not legally).

We are in complete agreement then. To do otherwise would be, in my opinion, fraud.

"Debt is a contractual issue, not a moral one."

Keeping one's word is always a moral issue. The bad practices of others (businesses or individuals) do not change the value of my word.

Who is lending money to startups?

Am I not reading often on HN about long-term agreements startups in SFBA are committing themselves to (specifically real estate/office space leases)? That's a debt, and when a startup burns up, any time left on that lease is a debt left unpaid. Debt is not just VC money in hand.

Anyone who invoices after services are provided instead of before, for one.

A secured debt is a contractual issue. An unsecured debt is a moral issue.