VCs asked to give more than just money
Wall Street Journal reports on an increasing trend (which I'd begun to see a couple of years back amongst banks such as Silicon Valley Bank in North Carolina):
"It used to be that customers would call a well-known venture capitalist and say, 'Are you behind this company?' And they'd say, 'Yeah, we're there.' And the customer wouldn't ask for anything more," says Michael Herling, a partner with Stamford, Connecticut, law firm Finn Dixon & Herling. "Now, more customers are asking venture capitalists to sign on the dotted line ... agreeing to continue to support the entity for some period of time. If there's a cash shortfall, customers want to make sure there's some support for that company ... to make sure it's a sustainable supplier."