4 ms·
Totally. It’s really fantastic that a16z is transparent about their values. It’s safe to assume other VCs share these beliefs but choose not to disclose them.
by gkop 4y ago
Totally. It’s really fantastic that a16z is transparent about their values. It’s safe to assume other VCs share these beliefs but choose not to disclose them.
- jacquesm 4y agoWhat will never cease to amaze me is that the likes of a16z while reaping billions on hardly any work at all will go to extreme ends to deny others what they simply earned through usually very hard work.
- foobiekr 4y agoWhen we were raising our series C, a potential investor (which we did not go with) wanted a requirement to cancel/claw back all _vested_ and _early exercised_ options that employees who had worked for us had and to put in place a buy-back-at-exercise-cost-or-cancel for current employees. No thanks. But it was eye opening.
- jacquesm 4y agoThat is absolutely ridiculous. I'd love to know which investor that was so I can avoid working with them, if you could let me know I'd be very grateful (mail in profile). If not, I understand. Kudos for making the right call anyway, and that VC deserves to lose each and every deal they look at.
- duped 4y agoOut of curiosity, what did the cap table look like when they suggested that? Was there a good chunk of equity floating around your current/former employees? I know some VCs have dilution/ownership thresholds and they might have been trying to find a way to get in on your raise without bending their own rules. But it is really offensive to your employees, I know if my company did that I would walk.
- jacquesm 4y agoIt's beyond despicable to try to get a company to renege on their prior agreements in order to satisfy your own arbitrary rule set.
- duped 4y agoIt's begging for a lawsuit at worst and mass resignation at best among the early hires. I just want to know the twisted rationalization!
- jacquesm 4y agoI think that they spotted a way to sweeten the deal by making early vestors that had already left the company pay for it. Typical account thinking. Pro tip: stay away from VCs run by accountants or lawyers, always go for the ones run by entrepreneurs.
- 4y ago
- HWR_14 4y agoWhat is the legal mechanism for taking some of your employees property?
- jacquesm 4y agoYes if there was a clawback clause that could be triggered for some excuse, and presumably there was. For instance: you left the company. Depending on the clause you could be forced to sell back to the company at the issuing price or the fair market price on the day that you left.
- gkop 4y agoA clawback on vested is nuts. I’d be shocked to see that in boilerplate.
- jacquesm 4y agoI've seen it and I've advised someone to get it struck which it was and another where it wasn't so they left that company.
- foobiekr 4y agoIt was NOT in our boilerplate. The discussion around this was his “secret sauce” concept. It was ridiculous and we turned it down. They were big investors in a few very high flying super flops in the 2010s. It has always made me wonder if the employees at those companies would have been screwed had the companies been everything the tech press ckaimed they were.
- eftychis 4y agoAs some sibling comments: We are raising, and I would be interested in knowing who that investor was so as to avoid them. Please email me/dm me if you feel comfortable (see profile). Regardless, I am glad you did not go with them.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]