

The problem with taking money from big VC's. - spitfire
http://cdixon.org/2009/08/14/the-problem-with-taking-seed-money-from-big-vcs/

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The content of this post isn't unique to BIG VCs. Anytime you take money from
someone that is capable of following-on, and they don't, it's a major bad
signal. However, on the flip side, a professional VC that comes in at A or
later is going to know that any investor w/ a strategy that doesn't include
following on, is gonna be biased in the other direction.

The bigger miss, from a post like this, is saying the problem is getting in
bed with a BIG VC too early. Take money where you can get it from, if you need
it. Most people will never be in a position to choose one firm's money over
another. And today's climate, most rounds are syndicated (this post is a few
years old). However, the risk / rewards of getting involved with any
professional investor is they give you capital to accelerate growth, but will
kill you if you fail to meet or exceed expectations. Big VCs want to follow on
and aren't looking to tank a successful company. However, if you don't do your
job, they won't normally throw good money after bad.

Investors only become a problem if the founder(s) don't do their job, which is
to grow HUGE FAST! If you do that, you won't have to worry about the
aforementioned situation where a BIG VC failing to follow-on kills you in a
future round.

