Once upon a time, there was a startup founder, let’s call him Ben. After seven grueling years of “blood, sweat, and instant noodles” (though that’s often an exaggeration, let’s believe it for the sake of the story), he finally built his “house of friendship.” With a substantial round of funding from a top venture capital firm, things were looking up. By 2011, Ben and his team were on the brink of selling their business for a cool $88 million. The deal was almost sealed, and Ben was on the verge of becoming a wealthy man. The venture capital fund that backed him stood to double its investment.

But then, disaster struck. The investor, who had the power to veto such deals, pulled the plug at the last moment. “They told me to wait for a better offer,” Ben wrote in his blog. Of course, they thought billion-dollar deals were just around the corner!

The better offer never came. Not after a year, not after two. The company lost its momentum – naturally, it was no longer a startup. The co-founders got burnt out and left. And when Ben finally wanted to cash in his late-night instant noodle sacrifices, he had to settle for an amount that was a mere fraction of that once-promising offer. This story is just one of many we never hear about.