On the most recent TechStars/Bloomberg startup reality show, a couple of investors tongue in cheek talked about investing in the career earnings of one of the entrepreneurs whom they thought had a lot of promise. Although the investors probably weren't too serious about this point, I don't think its a bad idea. If Gowalla investors had struck such a deal with the founders of Gowalla then of course they'd be entitled to some of the stock grants that Facebook offered. But they didn't. They invested in the company which failed, so they get nada.

And I give absolutely no credence to the argument that the investors funds boosted the profile of Gowalla founders so they wouldn't have gotten great deals from Facebook if it weren't for their investment. If that's the case, then limited partners should be entitled to a share of the profits from a VC's second fund if the first one goes bust. Because, you know, it was the limited partners' money that gave you a name in the VC community in the first place. Of course, no one takes such an argument seriously in the finance community, and neither should you entrepreneurs.