I'd rather the latter though. 100x return on $.5m is $50m. I only need to hit three of those to equal the larger return and I've got 100 shots to do it with the same amount of capital.

I'm confused by how the percentage doesn't sound as nice. It's about risk vs. reward, raw monetary return doesn't really give you that. Raw profit completely ignores the risk the investor put in initially. I'd rather have the 100x return since I risked a lot less to get get it.

I think there are more risks on the 1M dollar level. If a company raises north of 25M (in our industry) this is likely to be a C round at which point they are likely to have proven a market and a solid income.