One thing I haven't seen anyone mention in these comments yet is that Evan Spiegal and Bobby Murphy did the EXACT same thing after Snapchat's B round [1]. They

One thing I haven't seen anyone mention in these comments yet is that Evan Spiegal and Bobby Murphy did the EXACT same thing after Snapchat's B round [1]. They each took out $10 million. It didn't demotivate them, nor did it misalign their incentives. That $10 million would now be worth upwards of $100 million in equity at their current valuation. Just like Secret, it's a deal that both sides agreed to; sometimes it works out better for the founders, sometimes for the VCs. [1] http://www.cnet.com/news/snapchat-founders-reportedly-pocket-20m-from-funding-deal/ http://www.cnet.com/news/snapchat-founders-reportedly-pocket...