Dry Powder and the Efficiency Mandate

The growth-at-all-costs era ended in 2022 and has not come back. Capital is available, but it is allocated against different metrics: gross margin, net dollar retention, payback period, burn multiple. The grown-up versions of all these have been around for a decade; they are only now non-negotiable.

The implication for founders is that the fundraising story has changed shape. A growth chart alone does not raise a series B in 2026. A growth chart plus durable unit economics does.