> Assertion #3: It is in the VCs' interest to acquire the most ownership of a company at the lowest price with the least risk.<p>Not quite - the investor's interest depends on their strategy, but it's balancing their desired return, resources, and risk. If you own 60% of a company, you've got to manage it, pay attention to it, keep a close eye on the books. If you own 5% of a company, and a savvy honorable investor owns 40%, and the rest is spread between founders, employee, and other investors - you don't have to watch it so closely. So you might get a better deal buying 5% at a worse valuable than 60% at a better valuable - because of the resources/time that will be required of you.<p>Investors want to maximize their return - but they also need to consider their strategy, what resources they have, how active they want to be, what their time horizon is, and so on, and so on. Saying they're after the biggest piece possible for the least money isn't quite right. If taking a bigger piece of the company makes the company less likely to make it, a smart investor won't do that.