If you get funding from investors most of them will want their money back plus returns. That’s why they invest after all. The exit is how the investors get their money back
Early-stage investors and dividend-collecting investors are not the same. They might be different parts of a single portfolio, but they're separate strategies. Switching from one mode to the other is something public markets are very good at. If a company wants to pay dividends instead of getting acquired, it should go public and start paying dividends.