I've seen many startups fail not because the idea was weak, but because the founders chased every investor's advice instead of trusting their own roadmap. In my three years mentoring at a local accelerator, the teams that pivoted to please VCs often lost sight of their actual users. Does external funding pressure really improve a startup's odds, or does it just push founders toward short-term metrics that look good on decks but kill long-term vision? I lean toward saying that early-stage startups are better off bootstrapping, but I've also seen exceptions where the right investor opened doors no amount of grit could.