Is pre-seed dead?

I spent several months raising pre-seed, and the main feedback from investors is: it doesn't look serious raising such little amounts like $350K (based in San Francisco) and that I would run out of money and instead of working on the product would waste time raising more money. Many asked why am I raising so few and what is it for because it doesn't look like to hire people for any reasonable timeframe.Feedback from potential co-founders/team-members*: it doesn't look serious raising such amount, raise at least a couple millions so the company can build something without the need to raise again in a few months. Potentially good candidates didn't join because didn't feel that $350K will be enough. So people interested in joining me want me to raise more as well.*I am a solo founder, built an MVP, launched it, got users, then spent several months raising funds. To build and launch the product publicly need more time and funds.I met a lot of startup founders recently and everyone is raising at least $1.5M with either the same milestones as in my company or less (often no MVP yet, no users, some had just an idea).Do people still raise pre-seed or not anymore? Within the last 6 months, I didn't meet anyone who does!"Raise as few as possible" was the recommendation I heard. But if you read my previous paragraphs, it seems to make a negative impression onto investors themselves and potential team members – raising as few as possible.I also think that it's possible to raise very different amounts, just when you raise $350, then you have one type of milestones, if raise $1.5M, then you can do more and have more milestones, raising 3M - even more etc. So the thing "you should know how much you need" doesn't apply - because you can raise any amount and use it for more milestones if you know your product and market (I know mine inside out for sure).After raising 350K, I was planning to raise $2.5M in 9 mo. ($350 can be enough for a year but counting I need time to actually raise, it would be 6-9 mo, then I would have to start raising again). Investors and potential team members asked me why don't I raise this amount ($2.5M) right away. -------------------------------------------------------------– What's your experience raising as a founder, have you ever raised pre-seed or did you start with Seed? How much traction did you have if you raised 1M or more (and what field are you in as I understand it can vary)?– What is your recommendation as an investor?