While much of the startup ecosystem treats fundraising as a universal milestone, veteran founders often operate across a far wider range of business models, ambitions, and maturity levels. Drawing on firsthand experience advising hundreds of veteran entrepreneurs, this piece reframes capital not as fuel, but as a structural choice that shapes governance, identity, and long-term outcomes. By examining angels, venture capital, private equity, strategic investors, and non-dilutive alternatives through a veteran-centric lens, it argues that most founder pain stems not from lack of capital—but from misaligned capital. The result is a clearer framework for choosing partners that accelerate the right future, not just a faster one.