The truth is early stage investors are often asked to be the funders of last resort for the “in between” stage. We do that all the time at USV. We will lead or do an inside round for the Series B and Series C rounds if we have to. So choose your early stage investors well. Make sure they are willing to see you through the in between phase if need be. Because they will probably need to.
Truth.
It’s never easy to do the inside round that nobody else wants to do. Especially for a non-mega sized fund. We love working with USV in so many Series A rounds because we think alike with the follow on investment decisions (in good times and tough times).