Do you think the idea that popped into your head after reading this is something that didn't occur to them? A couple of YC companies have not raised additional

Do you think the idea that popped into your head after reading this is something that didn't occur to them? A couple of YC companies have not raised additional VC rounds after YC. I re-read the MFN SAFE contract. The second clause discusses "liquidity events." I.e., IPOs or selling the company. And discusses the details of that. The only way around it would be to build the company after YC without further investment and to keep it private indefinitely, a la Gumroad, but given most company employees are also working partially for equity, that's generally a non-starter already. At that point, VCs usually make offers to the founders to buy back the equity for some amount to clear their books. I don't know if YC does this, though. TL;DR The only way to not "convert" the $375k (this applies to the $125k SAFE too) would be to keep the company private forever which for most startups is a non-starter since employees generally want some equity.