How much of my company should I still own after seed, Series A, and beyond?
The short answer
Aim to sell roughly 10 to 20 percent per round and keep meaningful founder ownership into Series A, because dilution compounds and you cannot buy it back. If two founders are down to single digits by Series B, you have raised too much too early or on bad terms. Model your cap table forward three rounds before you sign the first one, so you see where the option pool and future rounds leave you before it is too late.
Go deeper, your way
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Why we picked it
This is the cleanest statement of the per-round rule of thumb backed by Carta's data across 1,200+ rounds: roughly 20 percent at seed, 20 percent at Series A, 15 percent at Series B, then 10 to 15 percent. Lemkin's blunt closing point (that dilution adds up and there are real benefits to being efficient instead of chasing every round) is exactly our stance. Do the arithmetic on those numbers and two founders splitting the company are already near the single digits by Series B if every round runs hot, which is why you model forward before you sign.
Why we picked it
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.
Why we picked it
This is the spreadsheet to actually model your cap table forward three rounds before you sign the first term sheet. It adds priced rounds, converts SAFEs and notes, issues option pools, runs pro rata, and computes the exit waterfall with liquidation preferences, so you see where founders land under real terms, not a napkin percentage. It is pay-what-you-want (0 dollars accepted, 20 dollar suggested), rated 4.9 across hundreds of founders, so there is no reason to sign a round blind.
