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Comment by knightofmars | Hacker News Reader

There is nothing surprising about this. In the eyes of VC or the acquirer the idea of someone having "earned the stock" means nothing without a contract that says they've earned it. People need to stop gaslighting themselves into thinking that the company they work for or the company acquiring the company they work for will "do right by them". Capital doesn't care about you, your mortgage, your dreams, or anything else. Stop pretending it does.

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This. The second the company or the persons running the company make more money by burning the bridge with you, they will do so without hesitation.

I know some people who worked for a company which got acquired a while back. The CEO walked away with over $11 million. Every single other employee's stock was worthless (common vs preferred). He could have paid them all out 5 figures and still had millions left over for himself.

Not always, but on average this is common and I've experienced it at multiple independent start-ups throughout my career.

When you find a solid leader who isn't a sellout, I suggest sticking with them. They are an anomaly.

Sometimes this does happen - VCs and acquirers behaving badly.

It has been my experience that in the vast majority of the cases, the VCs and the acquirers behave honorably, and do the right thing.

This is due to several factors: 1. They are ethical and/or more concerned about their reputation, esp. for future transactions. 2. The decision makers do not personally gain from such poor behavior (the $ flow to the organization, not to them). 3. The decision makers on the acquiring side are concerned about making enemies with others from the acquired companies.

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