[venantius]

I don't find this surprising at all and I think it's likely often in founders' best interests to still take a preemptive deal. It removes risk (which creates value) and also allows them to remain focused on operating the core business. There are obvious downsides here but I'd guess on average the benefits of that slight extra dilution far outweigh the costs.

[xivzgrev]

Remember dilution compounds into future funding rounds. I agree with point of this article intuitively - just take a month or two to run an accelerated process.

It’s not just about the money, it’s also entering into a partnership. So you shouldn’t take the first offer, you should at least shop it to know your options (quant and qual).

[zterky]

There's a bias here in that as a founder if I'm disappointed in one of my investors I would decline the pre-emptive offer and actively seek alternatives. In some cases I may even be interested in more dilutive options if it re-structures the companies governance.