zszabo

That scenario is likely precluded by the conditions that come along with the investment capital. Nobody has ever gotten rich from signing blank checks. And while there may have been the occasional, foolish investor to do just that, everybody else in that position has already internalized the rules of what not to do if they want to have a hope of hanging on to some of their investment. If in life there is no such thing as a free lunch, then by extension, nobody in the position to be directly involved views VC as a free handout.

i sure hope no investor is ever so foolishly naive as to accept claims like "50:50 chance to grow the business by an order of magnitude...in the next 2 years" without the heaviest grain of salt.

More realistically, chances are that any contract between them and the founder(s) states clearly that a sale within the first n# of years can only occur if the offered on the table is m%, m being >= 100 (more likely, m >= 120, 150 or more).

If OTOH only a fraction of the offer has been invested, then it is nearly guaranteed that they will be highly motivated to sell.

If the company is growing fast, it is not in the founders' interest to sell themselves so short. In fact, i doubt there exists empirical evidence that would support the likelihood of such a situation. VCs are logically only far less motivated to keep a business operating (after all, likely their only tie to it is financial) than the owners themselves -- whose baby, after all, it is. So when the founders are ready to bail, a sane investor would immediately pick up on the ominous implications regarding the future viability of the business and try to moderate their personal exposure as much as possible.

Incidentally, that's how the federal government operates. At the end of every fiscal year, if there was money left, it _had_ to be spent.

The short answer to your question: liability. In an age where anti-discrimination laws give people ample ammunition to sue for not being hired, it's financially prudent for companies to be rude.

And yes, I too find it frustrating, given that I'm currently looking for a job as well.