What Is a SAFE? How Y Combinator’s Startup Note Converts
Most seed money in US startups now arrives on SAFEs rather than shares. Here is how the cap, the discount and the MFN clause work, and what each side gives up.
Category: Startup Funding
Funding rounds at named startups: amount, lead investors, valuation when disclosed, and how seed rounds, SAFEs and priced rounds work.
Who Is an Accredited Investor? SEC Income and Net Worth Tests
The SEC's Rule 501(a) decides who can invest in most private funding rounds. The tests for individuals and entities, how startups verify them, and the changes the SEC proposed in 2026.
Convertible Note vs SAFE: How the Two Startup Deals Differ
Both turn early startup checks into shares at the next priced round. One is a loan with a clock attached, the other is not. A side-by-side table and a conversion worked through.
What Is a Form D Filing and What It Says About a Funding Round
Many startup rounds surface first as a Form D on SEC EDGAR. Here is how to read one, which fields matter and why the amount sold is not the same as the round size in the press.
What Is a Liquidation Preference? Examples for Startup Sales
Why a startup sold for hundreds of millions can leave founders and employees with little, and how to read the preference terms in a company's charter.
Pre-Money vs Post-Money Valuation, With Worked Examples
The same funding round can be described with two different valuations. Here is how to tell them apart, how the share price is set and what the headline number leaves out.
How Startup Funding Rounds Work, From Pre-Seed to Series C
Each round sells a slice of the company to new investors at a new price. Here is what the round names mean, who writes the checks and how founders' stakes shrink along the way.