No; the fiduciary duty of the CEO/board is to the shareholders. If there is a chance to salvage continuity of operations and preserve the value of equity, that is what they will do, even if it means operating until cash runs out. It is a matter of basic incentives. As much as we'd love to do the "right thing" and pay weeks/months of severance for no work (I am a founder myself and would love to, in a perfect world), startup employees should know the risks of working at a high-risk venture and plan accordingly. The middle road here is to do a significant layoff with severance, but this isn't possible in every case. Additionally, a company-saving customer contract or funding round can fall apart at any moment. This is, unfortunately, just the nature of the business.
