[shingen]

Assume they got 5% of the company for $20k.

It's very plausible they walked with between $500k and $1m. That's an awesome return on $20k.

[nikcub]

Not how it works since with later rounds you have both dilution and probably a liquidity preference

The figures here work out almost exactly to Sequoia and NEA getting their 2x (they invested a combined $17M) and plus the employee pool (2 x $17M = $34M + $9.8M = $43.8 - the announced sale price was $43.4M)

That is just me speculating, but I would be surprised if it isn't far off.

[shingen]

YC doesn't have any anti-dilution clauses in their terms?

Surprising given their small stakes. All I've seen are the surface features of the YC deals, so I'm not up to speed on the specific terms they get.

[jgrahamc]

The YC AA documents have a 1x preference (i.e. they can take their money out before distribution) and they have a right to reinvest pro-rata.

http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html

[pg]

Those aren't the terms we use. Those docs are something we and WSGR created for the startups we fund to use to when raising money later. We don't get any liquidation preference or pro-rata rights.

[pbreit]

Apparently not. But even if, they'd still have to buck up big time to maintain share.