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Open guide to equity compensation

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656 points mooreds | 2 comments | 13 Apr 25 19:13 UTC | HN request time: 1.63s | source
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lizknope ◴[14 Apr 25 13:29 UTC] No.43681043[source]▶
Why didn't I get any money from my startup? - A guide to Liquidation Preferences and Cap Tables

https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/comments/a8f6xz/why_didnt_...

I've posted this before but it's a great read. Even if you have millions of shares, the dilution and later investors could still leave you with nothing.

I worked for 2 startups, both failed, but I never got to see the cap table.

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1. mikestaub ◴[15 Apr 25 13:55 UTC] No.43692724[source]▶
If they are Delaware C corporations and you own at least one share, you have a legal right to demand access to the cap table.
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2. lizknope ◴[15 Apr 25 14:27 UTC] No.43693239[source]▶
It was registered in Delaware but it was an LLC.

I'm not a lawyer so I don't know if an LLC would have to comply in the same way.

I do know that there was an operating agreement and we had a very strange meeting at one point where the CEO and the financial guy told us that we had the right to see the operating agreement. Someone who left shortly after must have hired a lawyer and demanded that.

I did see it the operating agreement but not the cap table. When I left the company I did not even know what a cap table was so didn't even know that it was a thing that existed. I only found that reddit post a year later. I'm post that link so that people don't make the same mistakes I did. There were a lot of other questions I should have asked before joining both startups.