CAP TABLE MODEL — sample structure. Plug your real numbers and terms in.

STARTING POINT
  Founders   8,000,000 shares   80%
  Option pool 2,000,000          20%
             ──────────
             10,000,000

THE TWO THINGS THAT TRIP PEOPLE UP — modeled explicitly
  1. THE SAFE CONVERTS AT THE PRICED ROUND, not now. A $2M SAFE with a
     $10M cap doesn't dilute anyone today — it converts into shares when
     the seed prices, at the better of cap or round price. Modeling it
     as equity now overstates dilution.
  2. THE OPTION-POOL SHUFFLE. Investors want the pool expanded PRE-money,
     which means the expansion dilutes founders, not the new investor.
     This is the single most common founder surprise and it's built into
     the model below.

SEED ROUND — $3M at $12M pre / $15M post, pool topped to 15% pre-money
  Stage             Founders   SAFE    Seed    Pool
  Today              80%         —       —      20%
  Pool top-up (pre) 76%         —       —      24%   ← founders eat this
  SAFE converts     ~63%       ~13%     —      ~20%   (SAFE at its cap)
  Seed priced       ~50%       ~10%    20%     ~16%   post-money

  (Percentages illustrative — exact conversion depends on your SAFE cap
  vs. the priced valuation.)

WHAT THE MODEL SHOWS THAT A GUESS DOESN'T
  • Founders go 80% → ~50%, but ~4 of those points are the pool top-up,
    not the investors. Knowing which dilution came from where changes
    how you negotiate.
  • The SAFE holder's final % depends entirely on cap vs. round price —
    the model shows both scenarios so you see the range.

THE NEGOTIATION LEVER
The pre-money pool expansion is where founder ownership quietly leaks.
Modeling it separately lets you push to size the pool to actual hiring
needs rather than an investor's round default.

Give me your real share counts, the SAFE cap/discount, and the round
terms, and I'll produce the exact post-money table.