Why don't founders just go fund themselves, assuming they know what's up?

Say you have a hypothetical founder of a company that worked in VC and PE (in other words, he knows the ropes) that founded a company of which he still owns at least 51%, that currently plays in the LMM / growth equity area.

Why would he choose to sell to a buyout shop instead of just go finance the company himself? That's kind of like what the Cliff bar guy did but that is an unusual case. Do people just not realize the potential upside if they finance themselves? Why does everyone agree to sell?

 

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