Bridge rounds are not financing. They are an agreement between founders and existing investors to maintain a fiction for another six to nine months.

The founder's fiction: the business needs more runway to hit the next milestone. The investor's fiction: the milestone will make the next round fundable. Neither party says what both parties know, which is that the original thesis did not work and a new lead has not materialised.

The bridge is not a vote of confidence. It is the cost of not writing down a mark.

New angels who see bridge participation as investor validation are reading the signal backwards. The existing investor who bridges is protecting a position, not endorsing one.