The data from Brickken → Ellipsis is clear: my founders followed the check, not the relationship. Introducer overlap is seventy-one percent — high for two positions that share no other surface area. Sector is different. Stage is different. Cap-table structure is, arguably, different.

I find this freeing. It means I can keep changing the surface, and the founders will keep coming, so long as the underwriting inside the position is honest. It also means I do not need to commit to a sector before I commit to a next move. The thread is the check, not the rails.

The risk is obvious: a check is easier to lose than a relationship. A relationship is a hard-coded thing that comes through every round. A check is a series of correct calls in a row, each one re-earning the last. The margin is thinner. I like that margin.

Relationship is a commitment. Check is a string of commitments. I would rather be making them in public.