What about employees who moved across the country, or who worked for two years of their lives here and lost the opportunity costs of working elsewhere, and now have nothing more than a failed company on their resume?
So, it fails, as startups often do, and you find another job. During your time there you pocked over 200k + benefits. What a rough life. What did you lose exactly?
You think that the startup employee, who's placed a bet on their own personal value, doesn't deserve sympathy, but the VC, who gets to hedge their bets, does?
If some unfortunate VC tied 100% of their assets in this, which was tied to 100% of some direct persons money, then that'd suck for sure. Not likely though.
No, they don't. They are putting more money in the game, but way less skin -- since with "skin" we usually refer to actual personal consequences (it doesn't get any more personal that our own literal skin).
And aren't VCs well compensated as well? In many cases taking the bulk of reward despite not doing any of the work?