I think the team was most interested in the MS offer. It also looks like it was the most solid. And I guess it provided an acceptable return to the investors.
It’s hard or impossible to get a deal done if the team isn’t on board. That’s why, for example, when a company is in trouble or especially bankrupt, you’ll see big carve outs and/or cash payments to the management team (otherwise they’ll just jump ship and the investors get nothing). So pursuing, say, Apple, would just stretch things out and allow MS to go find an alternative.
Back then and still today there were multiple objectives to an exit for the Valley VC firms. Yes, they wanted a good return for themselves and their LPs and that was and is primary. But they also wanted good “brand” exits for marketing (both to LPs and startups). Finally, they want a good reputation with the staff which might help get more opportunities down the road.
There are so many more players in VC these days that the dynamic isn’t quite the same, but in my experience the big Valley investors play the long game more than east coast ones. And in Europe, apart from Hermann Hauser, I never really have seen the long game at all.
It’s hard or impossible to get a deal done if the team isn’t on board. That’s why, for example, when a company is in trouble or especially bankrupt, you’ll see big carve outs and/or cash payments to the management team (otherwise they’ll just jump ship and the investors get nothing). So pursuing, say, Apple, would just stretch things out and allow MS to go find an alternative.
Back then and still today there were multiple objectives to an exit for the Valley VC firms. Yes, they wanted a good return for themselves and their LPs and that was and is primary. But they also wanted good “brand” exits for marketing (both to LPs and startups). Finally, they want a good reputation with the staff which might help get more opportunities down the road.
There are so many more players in VC these days that the dynamic isn’t quite the same, but in my experience the big Valley investors play the long game more than east coast ones. And in Europe, apart from Hermann Hauser, I never really have seen the long game at all.