EZAmuse Negotiation Background (A)

This is the background to an exercise in negotiation. A promising venture-capital-backed company, EZAmuse Communications, is raising a B round. Its existing backer, Reality Venture Partners, would like it to raise enough for six or nine months, when it will have results on its current products and be able to raise a C round at a higher valuation. The new and talented CEO, who has succeeded with Reality in the past, would like to raise a larger amount now to avoid raising a C round (and preserve his own position). The keenest interest has come from a German firm that tends to do larger later-stage deals and would happily fund the company's entire needs. In the negotiations, explores the tradeoffs and dynamics of the situation.