No new cash for the next 12 months?!

I spoke with an entrepreneur today who used to be in the private equity world. He is trying to raise $3 million at a $12MM pre-money for an early stage environmental company. I told him that Founder's co-op would not be a good fit as a capital source. I asked him how the raise was going and he told me it was the toughest capital market he had ever seen.
I think he's right about the capital markets. I'm telling the companies that I'm involved in that they need to assume that they receive no more cash for the next 12 months. I don't know if it's true or not but it's a good mind set to have.