3 ms·

can you go into why this wasn't "the best" or "safest" way or the alternatives?

• 8_hours_ago 12y ago
  Offering stock instead of money for goods and services to your friends is risky. If the stock becomes worthless (which is very common for startups), your friends may not be your friends anymore. Of course, that doesn't mean much for an investment as small as a $100 drafting table, but losing your life savings is devastating.
  • ryanburk 12y ago
    thanks. totally get the life savings risk - the risk to the investor. I read it as risk to the company, so didn't know how this would be any riskier than standard round raises.
• mproud 12y ago
  • He hired an alcoholic for a lawyer • He didn’t know about Founders’ Stock • He only ended up with 4% of the company after his divorce • The board of directors took pity and helped him out financially, but they didn’t have to Rereading this, I realize that this story might sound like sour grapes, and perhaps some of you are thinking, “What an idiot!” But, no, I’m not bitter in the least. That’s life; these things happen, and it was a valuable learning experience. I share it because, well, it’s a part of the history here. And yeah, I’m an idiot. If you keep reading this blog, you’ll see that proven again and again! But we’re all idiots. We do dumb things: we trust people we shouldn’t, we make decisions based on emotion without regard for logic, or sometimes logic without regard for emotion. It’s the human experience, and the story of Wizards of the Coast is a very human story.