Educational estimates onlyNot financial or legal advice. Consult a startup attorney.
Cap table 101
Cap table builder
An editable cap table starting from a pre-populated example: founders, seed investor, SAFE, and option pool. Edit values, add holders, change share classes. The visual ownership bar updates live.
Form ED-6 / Cap Table Register
Build a working cap table
Holder
Class
Shares
% fully diluted
33.8%
33.8%
16.9%
10.1%
5.4%
Total fully diluted
14,800,000
100.0%
Visual ownership (fully diluted)
34%
34%
17%
10%
§Anatomy
What lives on a cap table
Common stock
Founders, early employees, advisors with non-preferred grants. Lower priority in liquidation than preferred.
Preferred stock
Investors. Each round typically a new series (Seed Preferred, Series A Preferred). Carries liquidation preference, anti-dilution, board rights.
Option pool
Reserved shares for employee grants. Tracked as authorised, granted, vested, and exercised. Unallocated pool is shadow ownership until granted.
Convertibles
SAFEs and convertible notes. Off the basic cap table until they convert at a priced round. Always model fully diluted including conversion.
§FAQ
Cap table FAQ
A cap table (capitalisation table) is a record of who owns what in a company. It lists every shareholder, their share class (common, preferred), their share count, their ownership percentage (both basic and fully diluted), and any convertible securities (SAFEs, notes, warrants). For startups, it is the single most important spreadsheet you maintain.