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How One VC Firm Amassed a 24% Stake in Slack Worth $4.6 Billion

Stewart Butterfield wanted to quit and give the money back to investors. They wouldn’t let him.

Slack executives ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Slack executives ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America

Stewart Butterfield loved the game, but not enough people agreed with him. He spent two years and raised roughly $11 million to build an online adventure game called Glitch that featured garrulous, blue-headed creatures and milk-drunk butterflies.

Once people had a chance to play it and Butterfield could track the numbers, the verdict was clear: Glitch was a flop. “There was this night where I just lost faith,” Butterfield said in a podcast interview. He decided in 2012 that it was game over. Butterfield made plans to shut down the company and give the remaining money back to his investors.