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Option Pool Calculator
Calculate the size of a pre-financing option pool and see how it effectively lowers your negotiated pre-money valuation, since the pool is carved out of it.
How to Use Option Pool Calculator
- 1Enter the nominal pre-money valuation
- 2Enter the new investment amount
- 3Enter your target option pool as a % of post-money
- 4Click Calculate to see the pool value and effective pre-money after the carve-out
Frequently Asked Questions
When investors require a pool sized as a % of the POST-money cap table, that pool is typically created before the new investment (i.e., carved out of existing/founder shares), not shared by the new investor. So the pool's rupee value effectively comes out of the pre-money figure you negotiated — this is sometimes called the 'option pool shuffle'.
Commonly 10-20% of the post-money cap table, though this varies by stage and negotiation — this tool doesn't recommend a size, you enter your own target.
No — in this structure, the investor's ownership is unaffected by pool sizing since the pool is carved from the pre-money side. Existing/founder shareholders absorb the dilution.
Nominal pre-money is the headline number in the term sheet. Effective pre-money subtracts the option pool value, showing what founders are really giving up in value terms once the pool is accounted for.
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