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Comment by jeremybell | Hacker News Reader

There are some questions about the deal we secured to return our investors' money. Without going into the specifics, I can say it was essentially an acquihire. I'm going to another company, and part of that deal allows me to repay our investors in full.

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Just wanted to ask how common is it to return money to VC's?

Or how is this any different than a bank loan, If the VC doesn't shoulder the risks that come with these kind of projects I wonder what is the value they add.

People might as well borrow the money on loan.

The post says they raised "$250,000 from friends & family". That seems like a strong incentive to make sure your investors (read: loved ones) can recover their investments.

Would the typical VC deal allow founders to return money to their seed round investors before the VCs?

Pretty sure not.

Seed round funding usually uses a convertible note. Assuming the VC round is a priced round, the seed round investors are treated as if they had put in money during the price round.

Thus they would have same class of stock as the VC investors, with the same liquidation preferences.

FWIW any professional investors, especially VCs, would love to buy out previous investors: fewer signatures, less dilution, fewer lines on the cap table, etc. But as a seed or early investor, you probably don't want to be bought out if further rounds of investment are happening (and in any standard deal you'll have the right to hold your stock as long as you want).

Further rounds of investment normally means the company is successful and growing. It also means that professional investors think the investment is a good deal, so as an early stage investor your best bet is generally to stay on the bandwagon.

In the case of Wattage, the company is going bankrupt, so as an investor you are going to be getting between 0 - 100% of your money back. So it seems like the founders tried to get that closer to 100% so there wouldn't be any negative feelings. But if you are an investor in a successful and growing company, getting your money back is not a good return.

That doesn't make sense. Banks don't make unsecured loans of that size.

That's a good question, but realize that the OP is returning the money to angels, the $250k they got from "friends and family". So, even more than being a standup guy, he's ensuring congeniality with the in-laws. :)

It's far from guaranteed that an unsuccessful startup will be able to return the investor's money.

I'm astonished at the amount raised from "friends and family." If my network of people I can ask is 250 people (a lot!), and my success rate for securing some amount of money is 10%, the average amount contributed per person is $10,000. Maybe it's my modest means speaking here, but that's an insane amount.

If you have the sort of friends and family who will put up $50k, this is much more achievable, no? (I have no idea what sort of situation the poster is in, but F&F rounds can certainly go higher than $250k).

It's not "Friends and Family." It's "Friends and Family who qualify as accredited investors." (at least in the US).

An accredited investor is "someone whose net worth exceeds $1M not including their primary residence." The vast majority of people are not accredited investors because they cannot use their house as part of their net worth.

This is not your extended family giving you a $500 or $1000 to pursue your dream. These are wealthy people who know what they are doing, and are putting in several thousand if not tens of thousands of dollars each.

Friends and family are allowed to invest in a company without being an accredited investor. The rule about accredited investors involves soliciting investment from the general public. Rule 504 allows a company to raise upwards of 1 million dollars over a 12 month period from non-accredited investors so long as that money is raised from pre-existing contacts, that is no general solicitation is made.

http://www.sec.gov/answers/rule504.htm

It might be "friends and family (and myself)".

VC's exist to service a market that banks wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole.

That's a standup move on your part.

If you are being acquihired, how come you hint you are open to job enquiries on your post? Just curious.

I've secured a job, but the others are still looking.

Only Jeremy was offered a position. The rest of us are pounding the pavement.

That's awesome

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