Possibly. Investors (generally) have some sort of liquidation preference on the stock. The details of that preference are complex and can take some time to full

Possibly. Investors (generally) have some sort of liquidation preference on the stock. The details of that preference are complex and can take some time to fully understand. Things like double-dipping (owning a liquidation preference and THEN participating on the same percentage os a common stock holder) make it even more complex. The key thing to know is that not all stock is the same. "Owning" 1% of the company doesn't mean you get 1% of the exit necessarily. In smaller exits those liquidation preferences can mean that the investors are paid out and nothing is left of the pie for you. A good article on this: http://web.mit.edu/e-club/hadzima/what-are-the-terms-part1.html http://web.mit.edu/e-club/hadzima/what-are-the-terms-part1.h...