Ten evergreen, plain-language guides to how SAFEs, term sheets, ESOP vesting, dilution, and liquidation preferences actually work. No jargon left unexplained, no gated content.
A SAFE does not become equity by itself. Here is what triggers conversion and how the valuation cap and discount set the price an investor actually pays.
The valuation number is only one term. Here is what liquidation preference, board control, and anti-dilution clauses actually do to a founder's outcome.
The standard four-year vesting schedule, the one-year cliff, and exactly what happens to your options if you leave a startup before you are fully vested.
A SAFE and a priced round are not interchangeable. Here is what changes in speed, cost, control, and dilution when a founder picks one over the other.
Investors verify far more than the pitch deck before writing a check. Here is what real due diligence covers, from the cap table to customer concentration risk.
A lower valuation round does more than sting. Here is exactly how a down round dilutes shareholders, triggers anti-dilution clauses, and hits employee options.
Convertible notes and SAFEs both raise early capital without pricing the company, but one is debt and one is not. Here is what that difference actually means.
Investors and acquirers expect a specific set of documents before they trust a company's numbers. Here is exactly what belongs in a real startup data room.
Dilution does not add up across rounds, it compounds. Here is how option pools, SAFEs, and anti-dilution clauses combine to shrink founder ownership over time.
1x non-participating sounds simple until an exit happens. Here is exactly what it guarantees an investor and what it means for founders in a modest sale.
