"Many of these founders have only "made it" in a paper sense. It's at best ungracious to be living large while your employees and investors are still sweating i

"Many of these founders have only "made it" in a paper sense. It's at best ungracious to be living large while your employees and investors are still sweating it out and/or losing money." Is it only in a paper sense until what? The IPO? Many companies are staying private much longer, because it's better for them. Can you really say that a company that has a valuation in the billions, that, let's be clear, has been paying thousands of employees, suppliers, etc. for years, and that is choosing to stay private because it's the smarter move for all its shareholders, is not considered a success warranting of the founders taking some money off the table? Not to mention the fact that lots of companies simply remain private always, that's a perfectly legit option although not as often used in the startup world for various reasons. Nor to mention the fact that the founders who are "taking money off the table" are quite literally doing it by investors buying shares from them, meaning the investors themselves necessarily have to agree to this arrangement. (Although admittedly, those are later stage investors, and this could be against the interests of earlier shareholders, but then they made a business deal with a company, it's on them to do it in a smart way). I don't get why suddenly when it comes to tech startups and founders, the normal rules of business are suspect. People start companies and sell off parts of them to outsiders all the time, and it's mostly up to the parties involved to agree on the details that seem right to their situation. If they are willing to do a deal with a company that isn't currently making a profit, fine! That's their business.