Redemption rights give investors that hold preferred stock the right to require that a company repurchase their shares after a specified period of time. They are designed to protect investors when a company’s valuation is stagnant, and is no longer an attractive acquisition target or IPO candidate. While rarely included in a term sheet, they can represent a major problem to companies that do not intend to generate positive cash flows for some time and as a result will not be able to pay back the investor in the event they exercise their right.Before you sign a term sheet it is imperative that you understand the rights that your potential investors expect—do not agree to terms that you do not understand or have not discussed with your council. The last thing you want to have happen is an investor demands that you buy back their shares, and you don’t have enough capital to pay them back, or you have just enough capital to pay them back, but doing so will jeopardize your ongoing operations.