Comment by enra

"Venture debt is like a delicious sandwich that only costs ten cents, but occasionally explodes in your face" - PG

Part of being a startup is still that there is not a lot of historical precedent and uncertainty how well your business will do in the future. The problem with any fundraise is that it's always future looking (perhaps maybe you create some kind of option structure to call on it if needed).

VCs, especially Tier 1, can be still helpful in different ways, and them owning equity aligns the incentives more than debt.