Fundraising & Investors

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

A starting point

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

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time.

3 resources 3 link-checked Read Use

Read

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

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.

Carta: The Actual, Real Dilution from Series A, B, C and D Rounds

From SaaStr by Jason Lemkin 6 min read

Median dilution per round: about 20 percent seed, 20 percent Series A, 15 percent Series B, 10 to 15 percent later, per Carta's cross-round data
Selling 10 to 20 percent per round is the healthy band; anything past 25 to 30 percent in one round is the danger zone
Cumulative dilution compounds fast, so raising less and less often is a real lever on final founder ownership

Open saastr.com →

📄 Article

✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

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.

Founder Ownership by Round: How Equity Dilution Really Works

From EquityList by EquityList 12 min read

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

Open equitylist.co →

Use

📋 Template

✓ Link checked Freemium Intermediate

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.

Cap Table and Exit Waterfall Modeling Tool (Foresight)

From Foresight by Foresight (Taylor Davidson) spreadsheet template

Model multiple future rounds, SAFE/note conversions, and option pool top-ups in one sheet to see cumulative founder dilution
Includes an exit waterfall so you see how liquidation preferences change who actually gets paid, not just the ownership split
Pay-what-you-want (zero accepted), so cost is never the excuse for signing without a forward model

Open foresight.is →