...
I disagree. Havelock has cristal clear rules and they take no responsibility for anything but listing, trades and dividend distribution. In the mintspare case, what do you suggest they do? Just give shareholders escrowed funds? That's not how it works.
Havelock also makes it crystal clear in its TOS that it doe not deal with US citizens. Both of the offerings which have not tanked (Matt's and Benny's) have been issued by US nationals from US soil. So yeah...
Re. "fail rates well within range for 1st year startups": Well no, they're not, but even if startups had such abysmal rates, how many IRL start-ups simply OKTHXBAI from their creditors?
What do you mean "not tanked"? There are several listings that are alive and well (Crypto financial, Casino Bitcoin etc) and since when can an exchange protect itself from outright criminal activity? (Enron ring a bell?). You should probably also read up a little on success rates on seed financing investments. There is a reason you shouldn't invest more than you can lose in start ups.