I made this same mistake when I went to buy "Sweet" Corn for the dinner I threw last time I was there.  5 ears for $10. 

My business partner had dinner with a friend on the Planning Commission just last night.

Shall we get a table for dinner or just go to a bar? 

We've made each other some nice profits, so we get to argue over who picks up the check at dinner.  :-) Congrats on those deals  I just have not wanted to take on hundreds of investors.. my one I did we raised half the one you mention ( 7.5 mil)  with only 6 investors so On a very personal level with each..

Pay for dinners, lunch (rich people love freebies).You are on the right track to search for a "hand hold".

Hell, you can go to a nice steak house and buy yourself a dinner, then get home and realize you could have cooked it for yourself and saved money.

That's huge, and if I don't go to dinner much, or to bars much, or happen to drive a little less one month, that money doesn't sit in my wallet or a normal checking account, it goes towards the balance.  

If you succeed in a big way, you will gain some friends and admirers. ( you’ll even have more friends if you pay for all the events, trips, and dinners.

I was at a business dinner in NYC mid 2017 with a few Wall St guys and they said they would plow their retirement funds into Overstock (Beyond).Similar concept, changed from e-commerce to crypto exchange.They are still around and price is at what is was in 2017 although it did 10x at one point during crypto moon in 2021.So I guess it is possible but highly unlikely IMO

Not dinner money.