Danny, Words whisper, Actions scream. In order to combat this situation, offer the cut teams tangible help. And, don't let it be something like:" If I could help in anyway!"
Jesus Christ man, you already know how you could help; these guys need money. Use your connects to link them with some angel investors/ VC.
After, this am sure everyone would forgive and applaud you. And the publicity and the goodwill gained goes a long way. It is just too easy to say am sorry.
You're right! I will continue to work with everyone involved. Another accelerator was interested in possibly taking Status.ly in for their summer program, and I let Jamie know.
I think at this point Danny has learned his lesson about not promising more than he can deliver. If he was contacted by another accelerator which said that they might be interested in taking Status.ly, he's exactly right to say "possibly".
Seriously. I have a hard time believing that anyone who can found a startup incubator can't afford to give at least a couple grand to each of the founders that got nixed. It's the least you could do; compensate for airfare home and give them something to use for housing, food, and other necessities while they try to figure out how to support themselves going forward.
I don't know what the contracts said and I'm sure they were very one-sided, as usual, but this should serve as a lesson to startups that they shouldn't get on without proper legal protections in place.
After, this am sure everyone would forgive and applaud you. And the publicity and the goodwill gained goes a long way. It is just too easy to say am sorry.