Guides, best practices, and thought leadership on cap table management, startup equity, 409A valuations, and modern financial operations.
54 articles
Learn how to create a cap table from scratch with our step-by-step guide. Includes a free cap table template, real examples, and common mistakes to avoid.
You started your company owning 100% of it. By the time you close your Series B, you might own 25%. That is not a failure — it is how venture-backed startups work. But too many founders walk into funding rounds without understanding exactly how dilution changes their ownership, and that lack of know
Learn how cliff vesting works — the 1-year cliff, monthly vesting after, what happens if you leave early, and how to negotiate better terms.
When you join a startup or found a company, equity is often your most valuable compensation. But that equity doesn't land in your account all at once — it accrues over time through a process called...
Learn what a startup option pool is, how to size it at pre-seed through Series A, understand the option pool shuffle, and what VCs actually expect.
Learn how to calculate startup equity dilution with the formula, real seed and Series A examples, option pool impact, and a free calculator from OpenCap Stack.
What is a cap table? Learn how capitalization tables work, what to include, common mistakes founders make, and when to move beyond spreadsheets. Free cap table software for startups.
If you're a founder receiving restricted stock or an early employee getting equity in a startup, the 83(b) election is one of the most important tax decisions you'll ever make — and one of the easi...
Proprietary cap table software holds your equity data hostage. Learn why OCTA standards and open source tools like OpenCap Stack give founders real data portability.
When a startup raises venture capital, the term sheet arrives with dozens of provisions—and buried among them is one that can dramatically shift how exit proceeds are divided between founders and i...
Understand the YC SAFE note template — all 4 variants, post-money vs pre-money, conversion mechanics, and the most common founder mistakes.
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