Lessons for an 'up' round

With most privately held companies doing down rounds, it's news when a company is able to pull off an up round. It's even bigger news when experienced investors bestow a post-money valuation on a Phase I company that's about double what many companies in Phase II are getting these days.

Cytokinetics Inc. did just that last week, closing on $40 million in an oversubscribed series E round valuing the company north of $200 million post-money. The question is why can some companies do this at a time when most can't?...