> This is a mutual agreement between two informed parties.
YC has put so much effort into founder education over the years precisely because that frequently has tended to not be the case. Quite the opposite.
I'm not sure what you're defining as informed here (mutually responsible for understanding what is being signed, sure), however I would point to knowledgeable as the more important term. The problem continues to frequently be that founders and early employees are nowhere near as mutually knowledgeable as their counterpoints in the VC world, who are elite professionals at these deals and do them for a living.
There's a great statement above by @mnemotronic that summarizes the routine imbalance between the two sides: "I'm a software guy. Most of that sheet is a foreign language to me."
I can sympathize, I've been dealing with VCs since the late 1990s and the terms/legal side is still an immense chore.
> I also don't understand why you invoked class warfare here, which really undermines any credibility to your argument.
No it doesn't, because it's not invoking class warfare, it's making a point about the typically dramatic financial condition and personal risk imbalance between the two sides (the personal damage absorbed if things go south). Founders and early employees can easily see their lives ruined if a venture fails, it's a not uncommon outcome, HN sees such stories posted regularly.
YC has put so much effort into founder education over the years precisely because that frequently has tended to not be the case. Quite the opposite.
I'm not sure what you're defining as informed here (mutually responsible for understanding what is being signed, sure), however I would point to knowledgeable as the more important term. The problem continues to frequently be that founders and early employees are nowhere near as mutually knowledgeable as their counterpoints in the VC world, who are elite professionals at these deals and do them for a living.
There's a great statement above by @mnemotronic that summarizes the routine imbalance between the two sides: "I'm a software guy. Most of that sheet is a foreign language to me."
I can sympathize, I've been dealing with VCs since the late 1990s and the terms/legal side is still an immense chore.
> I also don't understand why you invoked class warfare here, which really undermines any credibility to your argument.
No it doesn't, because it's not invoking class warfare, it's making a point about the typically dramatic financial condition and personal risk imbalance between the two sides (the personal damage absorbed if things go south). Founders and early employees can easily see their lives ruined if a venture fails, it's a not uncommon outcome, HN sees such stories posted regularly.