re high res financing: closing dates can also vary in addition to cap. i've personally experienced varying closing dates with same cap and the initial bit was much needed at the time. haven't experienced priced yet but can imagine process being a bit slower.
re less control and no board seats: agreed. though i think it depends on the board member. in your case, i'm sure he was top notch :)
re raising few hundred thousand or less: hmm, don't have enough data. but uber's initial round was $200k. https://angel.co/uber
Uber was cofounded by someone with a large exit. This number does not represent the actual finances available and is likely misreported. I have a single exception to the low initial raise as well. Still anecdata and does not really refute the point. There are successes, but there are way, way more failures; early investors hate to reinvest pre-traction.
re less control and no board seats: agreed. though i think it depends on the board member. in your case, i'm sure he was top notch :)
re raising few hundred thousand or less: hmm, don't have enough data. but uber's initial round was $200k. https://angel.co/uber