I wouldn't be surprised if "forced" is even too strong of a word. What would you do if some folks who had loaned you millions of dollars and who had presumably

I wouldn't be surprised if "forced" is even too strong of a word. What would you do if some folks who had loaned you millions of dollars and who had presumably worked with you to make your company successful, said, "hey, is there any way we could get our money out?" VCs aren't servants to the entrepreneurs, they're partners. When you take $20 from a customer, do you feel a sense of obligation to make sure they get something in return? That sense of obligation doesn't get smaller when the amount goes up.