Age old question - to party or not to party (round).
The data above looks at 2,771 seed rounds raised in 2020 or 2021 (yes, I know that was a frothy period, stick with me).
We segment the companies into two categories: "party rounds" and "rounds with a lead", where the latter category required the seed round to have an investor who took 30% or more of the total offered equity.
We then tracked how far the two segments have gotten in the following few years.
The data is clear, if pretty subdued - companies without a seed-stage lead were a little less likely to make it to Series A and subsequent stages.
Now the interesting follow up is: why? Is it because there's a slight anti-signal without a lead? Is it because the lack of a lead is indicative of fundraising ability?
A resounding I don't know. I'll leave you with the fact that party rounds have become less common in recent quarters. So go forth and find those leads!
Onwards.
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Peter Walker
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