{"id":614,"date":"2015-02-26T10:45:09","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T10:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mba-mondays-illustrated.com\/?p=614"},"modified":"2024-02-21T21:16:24","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T21:16:24","slug":"mba-mondays-cap-tables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mba-mondays-illustrated.com\/2015\/02\/mba-mondays-cap-tables\/","title":{"rendered":"MBA Mondays: Cap Tables"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"078-captables\"<\/p>\n

Cap Tables (short for capitalization tables) are spreadsheets that show how much everyone owns of the company. You can get a stockholder ledger from your lawyer that will list all the stockholders and show how many shares or options they have, but I don’t consider that a cap table.<\/p>\n

For the past 25 years, I’ve used a simple form, mostly given to me by the partners I worked for when I first entered the venture capital business in the mid-80s, but with a few modifications by me over the years. It looks like this (click on the image to enlarge):<\/p>\n

\"6a00d83451b2c969e2015435b3bbb0970c\"<\/p>\n

Last night I put together a public read-only google spreadsheet that shows you a basic cap table in the format I like to use. You can check it out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The basic outlines of this cap table are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. it shows all the major stockholders of the company listed down the left side. it also shows the major option holders and buckets of option holders<\/li>\n
  2. it shows all of the classes of stock and how much was paid for them across the top of the columns<\/li>\n
  3. for each investor, you show how much of each class was bought and how many shares of that class they own as a result<\/li>\n
  4. you total up the cost and shares and then calculate ownerships on a fully-diluted basis (which means you include the options, whether issued or non-issued or vested or non-vested).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I like this presentation for its simplicity and because it shows the progression of financing activity. It also has the benefit of showing how much each investor has put in on a cost basis, which many cap tables leave out.<\/p>\n

    If you want to make a cap table for your company, feel free to replicate this format. If you have angel investors, put them in the angel section. I would include the largest ones and bucket all the rest into “other angels.”<\/p>\n

    If you’ve got any questions about this cap table, or cap tables in general, feel free to ask them in the comments. I will answer them (maybe not until late today or tomorrow -I’ve got a crazy day today). And I bet the community will answer them too (probably well before me).<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    From the comments<\/h3>\n

    JLM<\/a> added:<\/p>\n

    Perfect, as usual.<\/p>\n

    I would add the option exercise cost (# of options X strike price) to total cost in order to square total cost w fully diluted ownership. Otherwise the total cost at full dilution is understated by this amount.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

     <\/p>\n

    This article was originally written by Fred Wilson on September 26, 2011 here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \"078-captables\"<\/p>\n

    Cap Tables (short for capitalization tables) are spreadsheets that show how much everyone owns of the company. You can get a stockholder ledger from your lawyer that will list all the stockholders and show how many shares or options they have, but I don’t consider that a cap table.<\/p>\n

    For the past 25 years, I’ve used a simple form, mostly…<\/p>\n

    Continue readingMBA Mondays: Cap Tables<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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