Almost every financing I’ve been involved with over the years (seed, VC, growth, raising a VC fund) goes mostly like this:
- Struggle like hell to find a lead
- Come to terms with the lead
- Turn your attention to filling out the round
- The deal gets oversubscribed as all the investors that could not summon up the courage or did not have the checkbook to lead the deal scramble to get into what is now a “hot deal”
- You end up saying no to a lot of people you wish you could say yes to
So how do you decide who to let into the round and who to say no to?
Well the truth is that it sometimes matters a lot and sometimes doesn’t matter at all.
There are two primary factors that I like to focus on when choosing who to let in and who to say no to:
- Do they have deep pockets and have they shown a history and a propensity to follow on in future rounds. Yes means try to let them in. No means prioritize others over them at the margin.
- Can they add value and/or will they cause harm in any way. Adding value is a plus. Doing harm is a negative (obviously). Harm should be avoided at all costs. Adding value is a nice to have but not a must have. And investors always claim to be able to add value and very few actually do. If someone has already added value without even being in the deal, that’s a strong signal that carries a lot of weight with me.
There is one other factor that is worth considering. If someone is a friend, a former colleague, a person you know, trust, like and would like to have along for the ride, that is as good of a reason as any to let them in. But just remember that having friends in a deal that goes bad is a good way to lose friends. So make sure these are friends who have lost money, can take the hit, and aren’t going to hold it against you.
So here is when it matters and when it doesn’t.
- Seed investors aren’t likely to follow round after round and while some can add value, many don’t. I would not sweat the allocations/syndication decisions that much in a seed deal other than avoid troublemakers at all costs. Otherwise, get the money and move on.
- VC rounds (Srs A, Srs B, Srs C) are generally where the syndicates matter the most. Find a strong lead who will take a board seat, manage the syndicate, and help you. Then if there is money left over find VCs who have deep pockets, who have demonstrated a bias to follow on in round after round, and are willing to follow your lead.
- Growth rounds are generally where everyone wants to pile in and there aren’t a lot of board seats or governance issues to deal with. You may find investors that can help in these rounds but they are mostly about getting the money at a good price and getting back to business.
I have seen entrepreneurs try to optimize these decisions and spend a lot of time on them. Investors scrambling to get into the deal will fill your head with all sorts of promises, arguments, and the like. Which makes it even more tempting to spend time on the decision and make the best one.
My advice is to make good decisions and not try to make the very best ones. Focus on deep pockets who are known to follow on and be supportive and avoid troublemakers. Everything else is a nice to have but not a need to have.
