Anyone can offer that deal that Milner did. There is nothing stopping other angels other than that fact that nobody else seems to think it's a good idea. There's a fundamental disregard for risk in Milner's approach. They are paying the same price as later investors, but taking more risk. They are basically building in a down round just to get in the deal. Since when is a seed round worth more than a Series A?

I get that they're trying to get into every deal that's been prescreened, but the valuations are totally upside down by design. I may be missing something, but I the only way I can see this working out is if you're going to deploy lots more money on top of these notes, which are basically an expensive marketing scheme. That's a pretty big gamble. Perhaps $6 million is play money to these guys. In any case, I'd be more worried as an early stage VC than as an angel.

I can't put my finger on why I think that's a bad idea, but there problems just seem to follow people who are this free with their money. It smells of hubris, but it's not like these guys are pikers.