They may end up raising more, but from what I hear, they are choosing VCs based on who can secure them top engineering talent for critical positions, not who cuts the biggest check.
That's the lay of the land in Silicon Alley right now. Tech talent is worth its weight in gold.
they are choosing VCs based on who can secure them top engineering talent for critical positions
I hear all this talk about top engineering talent. What is the difference between these guys and the rest of the engineers in the valley? Most startups do not do anything specially intelligent so what difference does it make?
The question was why do you need top engineering talent to build a website whose technology is not that complex. The point is that building technology that has to scale at the rate that Turntable (and LikeALittle) is growing is a very serious challenge that you can't afford to screw up. It takes serious tech chops, even if the app is not that complex.
VC's have access to more information about a company than employees do. If you have the choice of places to work, do you want to work at a company vetted by Sequoia, who has the best deal flow there is, or vetted by a VC you've never heard of? Do you want to work for one whose follow-on war chest is hundreds of millions, or just a few million? One who will be able to help in crucial times, or one who adds no value? One whose involvement alone brings press at every new product announcement, or one who gets no extra attention from media? All things being equal, the value for an employee of working at a company with a top VC ought to be near the same as it is for the founders (with a little less upside).
