> ignoring dividends Well, this is a bit of an unfair premise :) the whole point of equity is that it is a claim on a company's future profits, and companies r

> ignoring dividends Well, this is a bit of an unfair premise :) the whole point of equity is that it is a claim on a company's future profits, and companies return profits either via directly via dividends or indirectly via buybacks (which push up the value of existing stockowner's holdings). It's easy to forget this in startup land, where most companies are unprofitable and thus have no profits to distribute.