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“VC Fund A just signed the term sheet,” “Ray” said to me this morning.
“That’s great news! Congratulations. That’s a great achievement on your part,” I said.
A month ago, things weren’t looking as good. His two existing investors seemed to be doing everything they could to prevent the round from closing.
The valuation and deal terms were good, and the new investors were well-respected. Yet, here they were, obstructing a good deal from happening.
And they almost succeeded. After two weeks of delays, the new investor got fed up with the behavior of the existing investors obstructionism. He gave a deadline of midnight to get the deal closed.
I started talking with Ray around lunchtime. One of his existing investors agreed to the deal, but the other investor was unavailable.
“Drive over to his office and wait in the lobby,” I suggested.
“He’s not there,” Ray said. “I already checked.”
At 11:30PM Ray called me, “I just had a whiskey. I’m going back into to the office to save the company.”
At 11:45PM Ray texted me: “The term sheet has been signed.”
It was that close.
