That strategy works fine till hard times come. Look up Beyond The Summit sometime. Sad story how it ended.
Raising money insulates against death by starvation of funds. Of course, the game becomes different; you need to keep growing. But those are the two alternatives, and of the two, sustained growth over 8 years seems like a better general strategy.
Just to balance out your comment — OTOH, a bootstrapped might survive tough times with some tough choices, but a VC-fueled rocket might sometimes have no choice but to liquidate if they can’t carry through with the growth necessary for the next round of fundraising.
Selling your soul to the Devil is great strategy for the Devil. It may be for you too, at least initially. But it isn't good for the rest of the world.
Raising money insulates against death by starvation of funds. Of course, the game becomes different; you need to keep growing. But those are the two alternatives, and of the two, sustained growth over 8 years seems like a better general strategy.