First Round lost the Dropbox deal over a small valuation gap
Rob Hayes · Uber's First Investor, First Round Capital's Rob Hayes on How The Deal Of The Decade Originated and Why Product Orientated VC Is The Future · Mar 21, 2016 · at 23:21
Rob Hayes is a partner at First Round Capital. He reflects on missing out on Drew Houston's Dropbox early in its lifecycle over a small valuation disagreement.
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“Actually had a term sheet out to him. Ended up losing on valuation and a very, very small differential on ballot valuation, which was a massive lesson for me in that, you know, there are crazy valuations and there are not crazy valuations, but when you're talking about 10, 15% differential for, you know, for any company that is, you know, for any company that is a relatively binary outcome. That's a silly mistake to make, and I don't think I've ever made it again.”
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