The plain-English video version for your first SAFE.
Understanding SAFE Notes: A Simple Guide for Startup Founders
Startup finance educator (YouTube) Feb 2024
Watch on YouTube youtube.com →Know whether it's pre-money or post-money (post-money SAFEs stack: Waveup reports clients who signed three or four reaching Series A with 35-45% of the company already committed), what the cap and discount imply for dilution, and what happens on a down exit. In India the iSAFE is structured as CCPS and behaves differently from a YC SAFE, with FEMA rules layered on top. Model your cap table after every single SAFE you sign, not just at the priced round; AI chat is genuinely good at walking you through the conversion math.
Part of SAFE notes on eChai Explore.
On the AI map, 29 October 2026 Legal and contracts
20 resources.
The plain-English video version for your first SAFE.
Startup finance educator (YouTube) Feb 2024
Watch on YouTube youtube.com →The contrarian case, so you hear the downside before signing three of them.
Startup finance channel (YouTube) Jan 2024
Watch on YouTube youtube.com →Walks the dilution math on screen, exactly what to replicate in a spreadsheet or AI chat.
Uncapped Notes Oct 2023
Watch on YouTube youtube.com →The instrument's inventor explaining how it converts, with worked examples.
Y Combinator 2024
Open ycombinator.com →The canonical templates; anything an investor hands you should diff cleanly against these.
Y Combinator 2025
Open ycombinator.com →The official conversion math with sample calculations to check your own model.
Y Combinator 2023
Open ycombinator.com →The single most consequential distinction, explained by the cap-table platform that sees the data.
Carta 2025
Open carta.com →Names the cap-stacking trap that surprises founders at Series A diligence.
SeedLegals 2025
Open seedlegals.com →A VC lawyer's deep dive into conversion percentage details most founders never read.
Chris Harvey, Law of VC 2024
Open lawofvc.substack.com →A major firm's current warning on SAFE overuse, with alternatives.
WilmerHale Apr 2026
Open wilmerhale.com →Lawyer-written founder guide covering when a SAFE is the wrong instrument.
Promise Legal 2025
Open blog.promise.legal →Finance-course rigor on the conversion arithmetic.
Wall Street Prep 2024
Open wallstreetprep.com →The primary source: the fund that created India's iSAFE, with the actual documents.
100X.VC 2025
Open 100x.vc →The origin explainer of why India needed its own SAFE variant.
Forbes India / 100X.VC 2019
Open forbesindia.com →The instrument-by-instrument comparison under Indian company law.
BusinessSetup 2025
Open businesssetup.in →Decision framework for Indian seed rounds specifically.
DealPlexus 2025
Open dealplexus.com →The FEMA layer that trips up any Indian startup taking foreign angel money.
Bhavya Sharma and Associates 2026
Open bhavyasharmaandassociates.com →How iSAFE-as-CCPS works mechanically and why it saves legal fees.
Kayone Consulting 2024
Open kayoneconsulting.com →An India-based lawyer bridging the US SAFE and Indian practice.
Vandana Singh 2025
Open vandanasingh.in →Fresh worked dilution examples to test your own numbers against.
Waveup 2026
Open waveup.com →The same ground, over in Co-founders, team & legal, our Starting Up track.