PG made an interesting analogy to the college admissions process. How long until we see an "Common App" for seed firms, and a common decision timeline?
I don't think there would need to be a common application, but there may have to be a common deadline.
Unfortunately, there's no central governing body to even try to limit it, so it's even more able to get ridiculous.
In some real sense, every US Senator and Governor is campaigning for president.
Those who are not "natural born citizens" of the United States (such as the current governor of California) cannot become President, by the Constitution, but, yes, for the most part most politicians of national prominence keep a future run for the presidency in mind in most of what they do.
in the end we declined the offer and it ended up working out well for us.
to be honest, extending an exploding offer is a statement of character.
Not only would the common application make the process easier for startups, it would help them identify worthy funds and keep them from wasting their time with other/shady ones.
It could definitely be a loosely-formed org. Perhaps quarterly deadlines that each firm could choose to accepts apps or not ... plus a simple list of guidelines they follow.