I spent $10 on a bad apple and it got $0 back. Then I go and sell that bad apple for $10. Whomever bought it is giving me back my money. This is kindergarten level arithmetic.
I didn't mean that it's mathematically impossible. I meant that it's practically not gonna happen. Much as they'd love to, no VC gets a chance to invest in an early stage startup knowing that if the startup fails, there's a buyer ready to make the VC whole.