> If they were sold on promises of getting that stock and a round happening then they're right to be pissed.
Does a statement of the form "you'll get X if condition Y" imply "we will seek condition Y so that you can get your X"? I don't think that it does.
For example: companies offer dividends if they make a profit. But that doesn't imply that the company will seek to make a profit in order to confer dividends. It's nice when they do, but there's no implied promise of working toward profitability just so that the dividend condition will apply.