But I do agree with the article, dividend's like this are not the spirit of building a good company. Just founders who want a huge pay-day. I would have understood 1m-4m, but not 21m, thats a huge percentage of their investment.
They're just diversifying a little. You wouldn't ask an investor to prove their commitment by putting 100% of their net worth in a single venture. Investors are diversified. Smart founders should be, too, as soon as they are able.
If the founder's want to sell some of their equity, I'm fine with that, but that is NOT what happened here. This is purely a pay-day.
If I knew my company was going to be the next eBay for realestate, why would you hamper your company by taking 21m off the table. This signals greed and/or being unsure of your future success.
And yes the figure is still "large" because it is 1/6th of their funding that goes to their pockets, rather than the company.
Alternatively they could offer a retention bonus to everyone based on current salary.