Picking the wrong name for the cap table: the least-priced risk of an angel round

Crunchbase News reopens the cap table question with a blunt argument: investors can lift a company or sink it, so deciding who gets to write a cheque is not a formality. At the angel round, founders often take whoever pays fastest — and pay for it later, when a messy cap table slows or kills the next deal.

Three questions to ask before taking money: can this investor follow on; what customer or licence door do they open; and how will they behave with their voting rights when things go badly. This is reverse due diligence — the founder diligencing the investor.