Series B, C, IPO. Every round is the same pattern: new slices are cut, but the pizza is worth so much more that your slice — even though it's a smaller fraction — buys a bigger house than the whole pizza could have bought a few rounds ago.
$15M raised. ~19% dilution. Everyone dilutes equally. Greg and Jordy's ratio is still 51:49 — it never changes.
$4M raised. ~20% dilution. Seed investors get 20%. Everyone else's slices shrink by the same proportion. But the pizza went from $4M to $20M.
The company needs a CEO, engineers, advisors. We set aside 20% of the company for them by issuing new shares. Both Greg and Jordy's slices get smaller by the same proportion. Neither one loses ground relative to the other.
Jordy buys 25% for $1M (stock purchase, his from day one). The COO grant vests over 4 years toward the remaining 24%. Once fully vested: 51/49. The mechanical details — share counts, vesting schedule, pool top-up — are in the COO grant document. This is the picture that matters.
The company issues new shares at $0.30/share, implying a $4M post-money valuation. These shares are Jordy's immediately — no vesting, no conditions, real equity from the moment the wire clears. The COO grant is a separate offer on top.
You are here. This is the easiest seat to board.
Every stage above this one, I have a job to do: convince new investors to come aboard. Each one looks at the cap table before they decide. A clean structure here makes every future pickup possible. A complicated one makes them pass — and if they pass, the rocket doesn't reach the next stage, and nobody's stake grows. Scroll up to see what happens when we do this right.