I actually thought this post was brilliant. A few items I liked: "First, startups with large debts on their balance sheet will have challenges securing loans,

I actually thought this post was brilliant. A few items I liked: "First, startups with large debts on their balance sheet will have challenges securing loans, partnerships and vendor credit, impeding their growth. " Debt by any other name is still debt on the balance sheet, so this is a great point. Also: "The majority of convertible debt deals have no mechanism to convert to equity without the occurrence of a Series A, and standard convertible debt deals come due in 12 to 18 months." This is startling. If this is true then many startups are facing a big unknown i.e. how renegotiating their convertible debt will turn out. Will you lose control of the board? How much equity will you lose? etc. While a pat on the back and a "this has never once been a problem" may work for some, it wouldn't make me sleep better at night. I think this is excellent advice: "negotiations should start sooner rather than later about converting the debt to equity upon maturity with your debt holders" Remove the unknown ASAP and give your company a more predictable and stable environment to operate in.