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Fundraising & Equity

Cap Table Management Guide

Written by Harry Prabandham

Curated by Rubric Financial

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Cap Table Fundamentals

  • A cap table tracks all equity ownership: common stock, preferred stock, options (granted and ungranted pool), warrants, and convertible instruments
  • Maintain both a 'current' cap table (what exists today) and a 'pro forma' or 'fully diluted' cap table (including all unexercised options and unconverted SAFEs/notes)
  • The fully diluted cap table is what investors use to evaluate ownership; it includes the option pool and all convertible instruments as if they were already converted

About the author

Harry Prabandham

Founder & CEO

Founder and CEO of StartupCFO. MBA from Wharton, MS in Computer Science, and decades of experience building and advising venture-backed startups.

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