[dataisfun]

This might work to maximize price but it won't necessarily land you with the best partners. The smartest, best money knows it and they make you pay for their investment. Moreover, approaching fundraising as a transactional auction in a quick sprint carries with it a bunch of "relationship debt." You're signing on to someone (your investor) you can't fire for the duration of your company's existence. Rushing into that might end up costing your company far more than the marginal gain from a bidding war. Just my two cents.

[pedalpete]

This goes against point #2 that the investor for the most part doesn't matter.

[dataisfun]

Point #2 is so patently absurd its hard to take seriously. One, YC are themselves investors, and as far as I know they don't position themselves as causally inert in relation to a company's success / one of many indistinguishable and arbitrary alternatives.

Two, I don't think you will find many entrepreneurs who'd claim indifference around their investor choice. At the very least, this claim asks us to believe there aren't terrible investors who cause damage, which runs contrary to both common sense and history.

[edited]

[dataisfun]

Well, mea culpa. The piece does address the issue of bad investors. My main beef is with the line, "in the end, while some investors are better than others, none of them translate directly to success," which I don't think is a credible claim, or at least warrants more evidence.