You can be ambitious without losing yourself. You can build something real without collapsing.

Let's stop making collapse the price of founder admission.

Scroobious is a startup too, and I'm doing my best to build and lead through this lens. I've raised over $11M across my companies and I've never been more intentional about how I think about capitalization. I'm forging a different kind of success story; one where your company thrives and you do too.

There are more capitalization options now than ever. Companies like Scroobious are building the infrastructure to make them accessible so that founders can fundraise on their terms and connect with aligned capital that values sustainability over sacrifice.

We need to ask - returns for who? At what cost?

In 2024, just nine firms secured the majority of the $71 billion raised by U.S. VCs.

What if we redefine success? What if we stop rewarding the burnout arc? What if we see sustainability and balance as signs of strong leadership?

Founders pitch their stories to investors, but investors have also pitched us a story. In their version, the "founder mode" archetype wins because they believe that kind of personal sacrifice leads to outsized returns for themselves and their limited partners.

So, why *is* this the standard? Why is the ideal founder one who sacrifices everything? A lot of that narrative comes from venture capital.

That version of "founder mode" gets glorified in startup culture. We treat overextension like a badge of honor. We celebrate martyrdom as commitment. And we wonder why so many brilliant founders burn out or disappear.