> They basically decided the company was near worthless valuation pre-money. That may well have been true. If the company was out of reserves/revenue/sales/con

> They basically decided the company was near worthless valuation pre-money. That may well have been true. If the company was out of reserves/revenue/sales/contracts and about to end without new investment, then it may have had little value, and it makes sense for any new investment to work from the current value of the company. Can't say if it was fair in this case, but it could have been. It may even have worked out to your benefit. Without the investment you may have ended up with 15% of $0, rather than 0.15% of something. Or not, but let's say it was. In that case this was fair. At any point a company takes on investment, it makes sense to do so based on the current value of the company. Suppose a start-up reaches a point where it's out of money to continue, doesn't have cash flow, and can't find additional investors. At that point the company is nearly dead and may be worth very little. The people remaining may still believe in the company and, if they are able, may be able to keep it going with investment from their own pockets.