Many founders say that Big VC seed programs are bad – you get some money but if you don’t get the follow-on you are doomed. Nobody else will touch you if Big VC won’t.
This happened to Instagram — A16Z seeded, but then couldn’t follow on due to the stated approach of another company they invested in, Picplz. Apparently Instagram was pissed. Seems reasonable.
Didn’t hurt Instagram much eh?
And I don’t think it hurts Andreessen — this explanation is completely adequate:
In November 2010, Mr. Andreessen took to Quora, the question and answer site, to explain his decision making: “We invested in the seed rounds of both companies when they had different strategies and therefore there was no conflict at that time,” Mr. Andreessen wrote. “As their products evolved and as Burbn became Instagram, they ended up doing very similar things, so we developed a conflict and therefore can only invest in one of them going forward.”
via How Andreessen Horowitz Bunted on an Instagram Investment – NYTimes.com.
Call me a naive…