prorata shares of later rounds are important for two reasons 1) a vc's LPs want them to get and maintain a certain percentage of ownership and 2) down rounds ar

prorata shares of later rounds are important for two reasons 1) a vc's LPs want them to get and maintain a certain percentage of ownership and 2) down rounds are very painful from a dilution pov so the prorata really helps there if you're only interested in absolute return, then dilution doesn't matter, only the value increase. not that you asked, but as an angel myself i generally don't take my prorata - the startups that aren't doing that well, i don't want it, and the ones that are doing very well, i can't afford. also, the risk tradeoff (do i want to invest a marginal dollar in a new startup or to invest it in another startup? i want to intelligently maximize risk, i think.)