Check your tender cap against the 20% median before you sign
Before signing a tender offer, run a three-line check on inclusion, sale cap, and market band.
Fundraising Mechanics
October 2026
Directed Shares Decide Day-One IPO Exit or Lock-Up
The directed-share paragraph in the underwriting section tells you whether an employee IPO purchase is liquid on day one or locked with the rest of the offering.
What a Convertible Note Does to Your Equity Before a Priced Round
A convertible note defers ownership until conversion, so model your stake as a range using the conversion price, discount, cap, and trigger.
Read the Form D Before You Take a SAFE
A SAFE filing shows money sold, investors, and leftover capacity, but the cap, discount, and conversion terms stay private.
September 2026
Check Pre-IPO Note Dilution Before IPO Pricing
Before an IPO price is set, a convertible note can convert automatically and change the share count, so check the terms that move your percentage.
Wonderful's Series C: Pay You or Dilute You
A primary round adds cash and dilutes you; a secondary can let holders sell at the new price without changing ownership.
Mega-Round Option Check: Strike vs Dilution
A large round resets your option price and dilutes your stake, so check your strike, last tender or secondary price, and ownership before and after the raise.
Term Sheet Dilution: Round Price and Option Pool
Check two term-sheet numbers before a raise: new round price vs your last 409A and whether the option pool expands before the raise.
Boring's $3B UAE Round: Check Your Dilution and Customer Risk
A big round can look like a win until you recompute the fully diluted cap table and see who owns the next revenue line.
Before signing: model two rounds so the pool doesn't cut 56% to 23%
Model the pre-money option pool across seed and Series A before you sign, so the hidden dilution is visible in the term sheet.
After Your Series A: Board Seats and Investor Veto Rights
A priced round can change what founders can still decide.
Before Your SAFE Converts: The Series A Terms That Matter
A five-point Series A term-sheet checklist for founders and SAFE holders: valuation, option pool, liquidation preference, board seat, protective provisions.
10-Day Startup Tender Offer? Ask Two Questions First
A short startup tender window is faster only if the deal meets narrow conditions, so check eligibility, deadline, and extension rules before you sign.
Stop Your First SAFE From Converting at a Later, Lower Cap
A most favored nation SAFE can pull an early investor down to a later, lower cap; here is the drafting checklist to stop it.
Is a $20M SAFE Cap Actually Founder-Friendly?
A SAFE cap looks generous, but the real test is the dilution it locks in and the next round it implies.
The Investor's First Cut: What Your Startup Equity Pays
A liquidation preference gives the investor the first claim on sale proceeds; your equity is what remains after the investor's choice.
Biggest Check Isn't Always the Lead: Spot the Terms Setter
A lead investor is the one whose terms, diligence, and commitment anchor the raise, even if their check is smaller.
Priced Round Check: Share Price, Dilution, Rights
A priced round turns startup value into a cap table; run this math-and-rights check before you sell shares.
Pro Rata Rights: How an Investor Keeps Its Percentage
Granting pro rata rights lets an investor buy enough new shares to hold its ownership percentage. Here is the check founders should run before agreeing.
Pay-to-play bridge trap: how your stake shrinks
A pay-to-play bridge can force existing investors to add cash or lose rights, so check the penalty, discount, conversion price, forced list, and cap table.
Read the Term Sheet Like a Cap Table: The Checklist That Shows What You’re Really Giving Up
Treat the term sheet as a cap table event: name the instrument, model conversion, check control rights, and catch local-law triggers before signing.
How to Read a SAFE Before It Converts: The Cap Table Math That Decides Your Dilution
A SAFE is a promise to convert, and the cap or discount is the price that decides how much ownership the investor gets.
Calculate Your Convertible Note's True Dilution Before You Sign
The real cost of a convertible note is the lowest conversion price created by discount, interest, and cap, not the discount alone.
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