Too many founders get stuck climbing the wrong mountain. Not by accident, but because an investor pushed them onto the first hill in sight. This is the danger of commoditized capital and lean startup philosophy.

Accelerating with the first good idea might make sense as an investment strategy if you make a lot of investments. But it can doom your company. For investors it’s a check, for you it’s years.

The problem is it’s too easy to substitute an investor’s money for your own conviction. That's the first step toward misery.

You don't want to discover what happens when small success meets venture valuations. You hit $1M ARR and revenue growth stagnates. User acquisition slows. You’re not dying, but there’s a creeping dread that you’re dead in the water.

That’s a local max. If you build your business for that target, it’s hard to escape. An investor gave you money to execute on an idea, and you did, and now you’re stuck.

Suddenly the good pain of having too much work turns into the bad pain of dreading doing it. And you learn the truth: Startups don’t die because they run out of money. They die when founders run out of energy. When ambition fades, starved in the wrong pursuit.

This is why I’m passionate about helping founders dream bigger at @southpkcommons. Nobody regrets taking the bigger swing. They regret years wasted on what they always worried might be the wrong idea.