The "capital creates pressure to fabricate progress" bit is painfully accurate. There's this weird dynamic where once you take money, the reporting relationship inverts your priorities. Instead of "what moves the business forward?" it becomes "what can I show on the next update call?"

I've seen this play out even at smaller scales with freelance retainers - the second you're accountable to external money, you start optimizing for visible activity over actual progress.

The 70% capital return is quietly remarkable though. Most founders in that position would've spent down to zero chasing pivots. Knowing when to fold and still having something to give back takes more backbone than people realize.