Article · 12 min read

Founder Ownership by Round: How Equity Dilution Really Works

EquityList Free Beginner India

Written by EquityList, the India-based cap table platform, so it speaks to founders managing ESOP pools and dematerialised shares under Indian norms, not just Delaware C-corps. It walks a two-founder company round by round with real percentages (about 71 percent held post-seed, 57 percent post-Series A, 46 percent post-Series B, 36 percent post-Series C) so you can see exactly where the option pool and each raise leave you. That forward view is the whole point: if your model puts two founders in single digits by Series B, you are raising too much too early or on bad terms.

  • Concrete post-round ownership walk-through: ~71% post-seed, ~57% post-A, ~46% post-B for a two-founder cap table
  • The option pool is usually carved out pre-money at Series A, so it dilutes founders, not the new investor: negotiate its size
  • Indian founders should track this alongside ESOP grants and FLA/dematerialisation compliance, not as an afterthought
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The question it answers

  1. How much of my company should I still own after seed, Series A, and beyond?

Read with it

  1. This is the cleanest statement of the per-round rule of thumb backed by Carta's data across 1,200+ rounds: roughly 20 percent... SaaStr Article · 6 min read Carta: The Actual, Real Dilution from Series A, B, C and D Rounds Jason Lemkin
  2. This is the spreadsheet to actually model your cap table forward three rounds before you sign the first term sheet. It adds... Foresight Template · spreadsheet template Cap Table and Exit Waterfall Modeling Tool (Foresight) Foresight (Taylor Davidson)
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