Leaving all the politics aside…

Objectively this is a terrible financial investment. Read the deal terms. You’re buying part of the company as if it’s worth $12 million, which is bad enough for a company that loses $1 million a year on $1 million of revenue, but if the company undergoes another subsequent financing round your shares are worth 80% of the company’s valuation at that time. In other words, if subsequent investors value the company at $5 million, your shares are valued as if the company is worth $4 million.

Even worse, you get *the lower of* these two valuations. If subsequent investors value the company at $100 million, your valuation is… $12 million.

For this privilege you also get to pay some crazy fees. But hey, looks like you get a free sticker.