You know that asshole who gets promoted and fails to thank or acknowledge the work and input from the team he was in? Or the company who lands VC money, moves to San Fran and never mentions, repays or includes early effort by friend, family, or an Angel? That is Alan Schaaf and Matt Schrader at IMGUR. Take a look at the archive and local press at Ohio University and the incubator called “The Innovation Center”. Much credit is taken by the Innovation Center and rightly so since they provided $25000.00 and incubator space, service, and staff including Matt Strader who worked for O.U. As a mentor / entrepreneur in residence.
In the glowing press after $40,000,000.00 in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Schaaf and Strader not only fail to mention the role Ohio University played they obfuscate and insult their roots, Athens Ohio and Ohio University. Schaff in a prefunding interview mentions 25k from “a program at college” and in a more recent interview called Athens, O.U. And the Innovation center “Nowhere” Ohio and his goal was to build something and leave Ohio as fast as possible.
Ok thats fine however the O.U. Incubators purpose is to fund and grow startups with Ohio taxes specifically for Ohio job growth and future economic prosperity. Of course you cant win them all and successful companies move and The Incubator program has the usual 5-10 % preferred equity such programs require. You would be Wrong, the Management of the Innovation Center and the politicians who set up the funds did not require equity they just believed startups would want to stay. There was no provision for IMGUR to allow follow on investment in future rounds or to repay Ohio Taxpayers the investment should IMGUR leave the state. The potential upside would have been $4 million to hundreds of millions returned to fund future startups should IMGUR be acquired or go Public. $ forever lost to Athens, O.U. And Ohio development.
IMGUR, Alan and Matt should apologize for being Douchey, Marc Andreesen should repay Ohio $25k out of dropped pocket change.
Ohio and every other development scheme needs to learn the lessons Founders and Angels already know, follow-on investors and VC’s screw early investors with dilution and liquidation preferences. Incubators need the occasional big win to fund the future 90% failures and protect their Limited Partners. In this case the LPs/Angels were unwitting taxpayers.
@kaffegeek