Follow
An investor who joins a round on terms set by the lead rather than negotiating their own.
Why it matters
Fast and valuable, but a round composed entirely of follows tends to stall, because nobody is willing to set the price.
A worked example
After the lead signs, five follows fill the remaining $2M within three weeks.
What is typical
Track lead and follow intent explicitly. Knowing you have $2M of follows waiting on a lead tells you exactly where to spend your time.
Related terms
Lead investor
The investor who sets the terms, does the deepest diligence and usually takes the largest allocation.
Read more →Soft circle
A verbal indication from an investor of a specific amount they intend to invest, subject to conditions.
Read more →Run your raise on this
VCTerminal models these terms on your real cap table, so you can see what a term sheet pays you before you sign it.
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