There&#x27;s a lot about those statements that seems imprecise.<p>Private partnerships do not generally have equity, per se.  Perhaps they meant private-corporation.<p>A corporation can have several issuances of shares.  These may be equity (ownership) or non-equity (preferred).<p>Perhaps the VC held non-equity shares.  Perhaps the grumbling was pre-investment.<p>In any case, it could&#x27;ve been better written.