I am amazed that this hasnt happened earlier. Tim Oren writes about an announcement sent to a VC mailing list.

The use of open source software is pervasive today and, when used correctly, is a low-cost alternative to developed code. However, open source software can cause major headaches for companies looking for funding and for investors looking for exits. Today, some acquirers view open source as being no different than fraud on the books.

To help companies and their VCs tackle this complicated issue, we’re bringing together top legal experts from Microsoft and Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault (boldface in original - ed.) with two preeminent personality (sic) in the open source community for a dynamic 90-minute audio/Web seminar … entitled:

“The Software Wars: How Open Source May Dramatically Affect Your Company’s Funding & Liquidity”

No matter how familiar you are with your company’s technology and its origin, you can’t afford to miss this interactive audio/Web seminar. Not only will you gain a better understanding of how open source can affect your company’s value but you’ll also receive a wealth of easy-to-implement strategies for managing the risk involved with using publicly available software code—or for avoiding it all together. When you join us, you’ll have the rare opportunity to see clearly both sides of the dynamic open source issue….

… other topics… include:

• Which open source licenses are to be avoided and why
• How will the use of open source affect your company’s target value
• What management policies are most effective in regulating the use of open source
• Ways you can minimize the damage of past open source use
• How best to comply with the licenses of open source code
• Who should you turn to for help addressing your open source issues
• Best practices for storing work and assessing compliance with regulations
• Tactics for creating internal systems to review proprietary software

Look how they are scaring people into using commercial software. The fact of the matter is GPL only really has an effect on people distributing software (which includes hardware vendors).

Most service based startups have little if nothing to by using GPL as they dont distribute their software.

In fact I would find it directly irresponsible if I was a VC analyst if a startup spent lots of money on large commercial app servers with heavy license fees and heavier annual support fees.