View from Seed

JANUARY 15, 2020

Consider the interests of everyone on the cap table. Don’t ask “who else are you talking to” or “who else is in” unless founders have already referenced other investors. Don’t ghost. Help to create focus vs. create distractions. Are engaged when things are challenging. Play a multi-turn game. Focus on culture.

Cap Table 166

Cap Table Florida Portfolio Founder 166

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

As Mark Suster pointed out yesterday on his blog , he's seeing more and more cases where "entrepreneurs are working hard to make sure they have as many VC names and famous angels on their cap table for signaling value." Remember, once you screw up your Cap Table it's really hard to go back.

Cap Table 125

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 125

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I’ve seen startup CEO’s send requests like, “can you please update our Cap Table with the latest stock option allocations approved at the board meeting?&# My email response (in my head, not sent), “can you please waste more money having expensive lawyers do something that you could / should easily do for free?

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 2, 2017

The total value of these deals might look higher than when a tech company makes an acquihire but the premium tends to go to retention rather than the cap table (especially since (a) the acquirer might not be seen as an ‘attractive’ place to work and (b) there’s assumption of less equity upside post-acquisition).

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Cap Table Acquisition Startup 127

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

If you need to clean up your own cap table first – while very hard to do – it will make outside funding easier. New investors often prefer to back newer companies that have never been through this drama. In my mind this simply means. Start early. Give yourself enough runway but controlling costs. Be realistic on valuation.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Startup Dilution 150

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 22, 2014

Others talked as if they were the ones doing the deals--even though they''re just the ones making the cap tables in Excel. Some analysts definitely say that. Dear Analysts: No offense intended, btw. You''re smart. You''re awesome in many ways I''m sure, but I did your job for years--I wasn''t "a VC". I was an analyst.

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Cap Table Startup Early Stage 154

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Cap tables sound intimidating. From the perspective of my outside friends, why are employees that so clearly impact the growth trajectory of a company look like they’re getting screwed? A reason might be that negotiation techniques are not a part of their training.

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

Gust

JANUARY 23, 2025

The post Cumbersome Cap Tables appeared first on Gust. Properly modeling your startup's churn is crucial to a full-picture financial model and will help you better understand your current growth trajectory.

Cap Table 91

Cap Table Startup 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2016

Be prepared to present a detailed cap table, identifying by percentage all owners, investors and debtors. Again, you need to head off any surprises by making sure you have mentioned all key competitors and thoroughly prepped the investor team on your strategy and direction. Business structure and financial risks.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Cap Table 120

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

This should be clearly spelled out in your Capitalization Table , or “Cap Table” as it’s commonly called. A Cap Table shows who owns the company, what the ownership shares are, and what the owners have invested in exchange for that share.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

This is all incorporated into a document called a Cap Table. . A cap table will help you in the strategic management of business decisions. Wondering what a cap table is, its importance, and how you can maintain it to expand your business? What is a cap table? Let’s dive in.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

VC Adventure

JULY 27, 2011

Aren’t there lawyers involved? How could they let this happen? Here’s where working with ASSHOLE VCs really screws with you. Company counsel is a very well known valley firm.

Technical Review 121

Technical Review Due Diligence Cap Table Distribution 121

ithacaVC

APRIL 25, 2014

I thought it might be useful to post up a model cap table ( Cap Table Model with Waterfall ). This cap table can be used by a pre-funded startup and then a financing can be layered in. In other words, it shows both pre-money and post-money very clearly. Here are things to note: 1.

Cap Table 79

Cap Table Preferred Stock Pre-Money Valuation Participating Preferred 79

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

If you have 50 investors on your cap table – I’m sorry but you really don’t know what the f**k they’re telling people about your company or whom they’re tell it to. He argues that transparency is right morally (they took a risk) and to get better quality advice. I agree up to a point.

Cap Table 150

Cap Table Cofounder Silicon Valley Startup 150

Gust

MARCH 10, 2025

The post Leave some room at the (cap) table, youre probably going to need it. For most startups, issuing between 60% and 80% of the total authorized shares of Common Stock is a good rule of thumb that balances founder ownership with flexibility to bring on additional contributors and minimizes Delaware franchise tax.

Cap Table 91

Cap Table Delaware Common Stock Stock 91

ithacaVC

DECEMBER 9, 2013

Also, during the process, we had to clean up the company’s cap table and make sure that we all agreed on who owned what on a pro forma pre-money basis. Without having a complete pre-money cap table, it is impossible to calculate a share price. And they were typically good answers.

Term Sheet 58

Term Sheet Cap Table Technical Review IP 58

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Popular Posts AngelList Archives How to make a cap table How to bring a product to market / A very rare interview with Sean Ellis Launch: StartupList — a new way to reach angels The Option Pool Shuffle Search Twitter Venture Hacks on Facebook Our Daily Newsletter Sign up via email or RSS. Learn more.

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

Gust

JUNE 1, 2022

If you have raised capital from investors before, you probably noticed that one of the first requests from potential investors is for you to send them your current cap table. Why would an investor be so interested in seeing your cap table? What might they be looking for? […].

Cap Table 91

Cap Table Startup 91

Hunter Walker

MARCH 15, 2018

While reading Brotopia, we were also helping theSkimm finish up their new financing , with Google Ventures and Spanx founder Sara Blakely joining the cap table. Over the past five years, I’ve witnessed theSkimm be underestimated by the venture capital industry, by pundits and press.

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Cap Table Venture Capital Finance 79

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 9, 2011

Know your industry’s standards and keep a controlled cap table. No matter how experienced or well connected an outsider claims to be, ask yourself questions about the other party’s intent. Think of the shares in your company as your currency. Is the X% stake the consultant is asking for standard?

Technical Review 90

Technical Review Cap Table Due Diligence Non-Compete 90

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 9, 2012

Every now and then Kelly would say something to jolt me out of my stupor – one that I remember was “Do you want to talk about cap tables for a little while?” I have no idea if this was physiological or psychological, but by 45 I was motoring along pretty well.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Cap Table Technical Review Partner 167

VC Adventure

OCTOBER 8, 2012

This is typically reflected on cap tables in a completely separate tab to the spreadsheet that shows the debt total by investor and then some kind of interest calculation. The problem, of course, is that their convert is already a part of their capitalization – even though it’s not reflected on the cap table.

Cap Table 93

Cap Table Dilution Equity Deal Structure 93

Gust

JUNE 22, 2016

The post Gust Launches Comprehensive Equity Management Platform for Cap Table Management and 409A Valuations appeared first on The Gust Blog. The new platform provides early-stage companies with powerful. Read more >.

Cap Table 93

Cap Table Valuation Equity Management 93

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2011

To this day I’m still surprised how few CEOs really understand the differences between 2x liquidation preference and a liquidation preference with a 2x cap. Or what “flat spots&# on a cap table are. Or what “participating preferred&# stock is and how it can screw you.

Liquidation Preference 304

Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Cap Table Participating Preferred 304

Eric Friedman

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

I have been on both sides of the cap table of advisors. Having them on your cap table, or even in your slide deck as an advisor would bring you credibility.] With this in mind I am updating my thinking and math from the previous post, as well as adding some new questions.

Early Stage 103

Early Stage Equity Vesting Cap Table 103

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

Plus, your execs, the rest of your cap table, and your board often will have to deal with this person. Even the best board member in the world can only do so much, but a bad one can hold up or nuke a future fundraise/acquisition, be a constant source of aggravation, and even lead a charge to fire you.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Memphis Cap Table 78

VC Cafe

JANUARY 30, 2023

SAFE note), shareholder agreements, company formation and governance documents (e.g. articles of incorporation, bylaws, shareholder agreements), employment contracts, patents and trademarks, contracts with providers, SEC filings, licenses Business documents – client contracts, pipeline (can be redacted: i.e

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Due Diligence Cap Table Startup 79

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 21, 2023

But back to the cap table. Here’s why VC’s don’t actually care about your prior cap table in most circumstances. We want what we want and if we really want it, we don’t really care about what else is going on with the cap table. and they take a hefty chunk of the cap table to do it.

Cap Table 78

Cap Table Term Sheet Database Option Pool 78

Hunter Walker

MAY 17, 2024

“Admirer from outside of the cap table” is how I approached Kieran Snyder , Cofounder of Textio. That is to say, I DMed her on Twitter in 2016, impressed by the work she was doing but without a preexisting relationship.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Founder Technical Review Seattle 120

ithacaVC

DECEMBER 13, 2013

When raising money from investors (angels or VC), it is critical to have a presentable and clean cap table. On a fully diluted pre-money basis, that would mean the option pool represents 14.5% (356,758/2,456,758) of the cap table. times more equity than Founder X. Well, that is really up to Founder X and Founder Y.

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Liquidation Preference 67

VC Adventure

OCTOBER 24, 2018

Also include your cap table, any board minutes you’re asking the board to approve as well as option grants and any other board business you’re planning on asking the board to consider in the meeting.

Design 91

Design Cap Table Email Operations 91

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 2, 2014

The acquiring company wants 100% of the proceeds to go to founders whatever the cap table says because buyers care way more about incentivizing and locking in founders than they do about VC returns or legal provisions to protect VCs. It’s not an easy question even thought there are industry standards.

Cap Table 346

Cap Table Cofounder Stock Acquisition 346

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. So how does this work in practice? Entrepreneur : “Sure.

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Some firms provide tools to model investment, e.g., Capital’s Cost of Equity estimator ; Lighter Capital’s Cost of Capital Calculator ; Indie VC’s Cap Table Comparison Model ; 645 Ventures’ cap table simulator ; and Bootstrapp.co’s Comprehensive Cost of Capital Calculator.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

We also use Carta , which specializes in cap table management and has just launched a fund administration service which we have transitioned to. See best practices in building financial models , a template financial model , and valuing startup employee options. 8) Monitor and report investments.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

We also use Carta , which specializes in cap table management and has just launched a fund administration service which we have transitioned to. See best practices in building financial models , a template financial model , and valuing startup employee options. 8) Monitor and report investments.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

“If you need to clean up your own cap table first – while very hard to do – it will make outside funding easier” Again, go read the post now – I’ll wait. Deal with reality as a founder as well as an investor group and avoid this complexity – just clean up your cap table instead.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70