There are almost certainly rules/stipulations around the money that was taken off the table by the founders in their funding round. It most certainly was tied t

There are almost certainly rules/stipulations around the money that was taken off the table by the founders in their funding round. It most certainly was tied to vested equity, at an absolute minimum, rather than granted as something such as a one-time bonus with no strings attached. I would be surprised if the founders get to contractually retain the entire $3MM taken off the table in that funding round. It is possible that this is the case (and so maybe not so surprising) but given the often unique terms in startup funding, I would be surprised if this were the case here.