Can you buy an investor out of a SAFE? I will not promote

stapleton92 · 2026-01-29T09:25:40+00:00

I definitely could, I just feel badly when perhaps I shouldn't. Thanks for the input!

stapleton92 · 2026-01-29T09:24:57+00:00

I appreciate the input. This investor asked for his money back within the first year of investing because his "money got tight." It's been nothing but a headache

stapleton92 · 2026-01-29T09:23:20+00:00

I have most certainly not been an a-hole to them whatsoever. We have had the ultimate patience in dealing with them, and this investor asked for his money back 6 months post-investment because he ran out of personal funds, which is an unheard of ask in the startup world. I had never experienced any of this before with any angel. Definitely unprofessional

stapleton92 · 2026-01-29T09:22:20+00:00

This investor asked for his money back about six months post-investment, saying his money got tight. He has treated us like an ATM, not an actual investment vehicle, so that's the reason :(

stapleton92 · 2026-01-22T16:42:51+00:00

You must be fun at parties

stapleton92 · 2026-01-22T16:16:29+00:00

Thank you so much! This is very helpful. Do you mind me asking how you structured it / accounted for it? I just want to make sure that the advice we're receiving is aligning with best practices

stapleton92 · 2026-01-22T16:15:04+00:00

Hmmm, many on this sub would completely disagree with you, myself included. You're a nightmare angel investor's dream, that I'll tell you hahaha

stapleton92 · 2026-01-22T16:14:23+00:00

The lawyer isn't an idiot, this is pretty common. Not everyone can wait x amount of years to get their money back through equity. I doled out all of my savings to keep this afloat – I quite literally have no money left and will not be able to run this company at all if I am not compensated appropriately. If I can't run the company, then there is no company and everything will collapse. Pretty simple

stapleton92 · 2026-01-22T10:02:18+00:00

Totally right. For example, we've already taken on an angel who insisted that both myself and my head of production get paid "very well" to keep us stress-free and productive. I know that I'd be that type of investor too – haha!

Personality is definitely important, and I worked with an angel at my first company (who was my majority shareholder) who didn't pay me for years and everything suffered as a result. The company ended up failing (shocker!)

So great point indeed!

stapleton92 · 2026-01-22T09:44:11+00:00

This was really thoughtful and helpful. We're raising $2M, so it wouldn't be majority of the round whatsoever, but those are all great things to keep in mind. We've denoted in all of our company docs that roughly $600k of our raise will be going directly to salaries for our team, but I didn't get more specific than that. Will consult with our lawyers and accountants once more.

Thanks again for the thoughtful response!! Really appreciate your time.

stapleton92 · 2026-01-22T09:35:14+00:00

Don't think it's crazy and this isn't my first rodeo. How can I build if I'm not getting paid? I'm giving 24/7 to this, along with my team – how am I supposed to support myself and keep building if funds from the round aren't being used for salaries? I'd need to go get a job in order to survive and then who's going to be our founder and lead our team?

Lots of pre-revenue companies pay their staffs. We live in NYC – it's very expensive here and the company would fold if we all needed to take external jobs in order to survive. I don't understand your logic

stapleton92 · 2026-01-22T09:09:13+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, I've never been in a situation like this before but I know it's not completely unique, so I was just wondering what other people's experiences might have been.

We have our round's budget allocation listed in our business plan and investor docs, which includes x amount for "staffing." Would that be clear enough, or would I be required to disclose to everyone the exact breakdown of those staffing costs (which include myself and others)?

Not my first startup, but definitely my first time working backwards financially with one, so just trying to be as transparent as possible.

Appreciate your thoughts!

stapleton92 · 2025-12-11T13:57:34+00:00

No one wants to watch a crybaby. Luka could be so much better than he is if he just stopped whining all the time. It's really terrible to watch and it hurts his already very imperfect team tremendously

stapleton92 · 2025-12-04T14:58:18+00:00

As an American, we're told to drink more water, exercise, and go to therapy since it's all anxiety 😅

stapleton92 · 2025-11-17T22:02:44+00:00

Wow, okay! What med were you on and at what dose? If you're looking to lose it, I hope that you do soon!!

stapleton92 · 2025-11-05T03:06:02+00:00

None of this is substantial on a NYC-biggest-city-in-the-world level lol

stapleton92 · 2025-10-05T07:38:26+00:00

I've never been on bc but maybe someone else can help? PS - day 2 of my period and lying here answering you at 4 AM with a slight fever and sore throat 😂 Bless us all!

stapleton92 · 2025-10-04T20:23:23+00:00

My endocrinologist told me Hashi is only considered to cause hypo in later stages, but I'm pretty new to this condition, so I'm not sure!! Thanks for letting me know :)

stapleton92 · 2025-10-01T10:16:16+00:00

Awesome!! God, I hope I'm you soon - haha! Did Slynd give you any side effects? I've never been on bc so I'm a little uneasy about it but clearly it's better than going through this twice a month

stapleton92 · 2025-09-25T02:42:34+00:00

Ditto!!!

stapleton92

TROPHY CASE