Have you seen the 1990’s comedy with Bill Murray called Groundhog Day? In the movie, his character Phil is caught in a time loop. Everyday, he wakes up to the same day, in the same hotel bed, to the same song on the clock. The only things that change are who he meets and the trouble he gets himself into.
I sometimes feel a little like Phil in Groundhog Day – I’m constantly having the same conversation with startup founders about cap tables. There’s a general lack of understanding about how to structure a cap table for investors. And our conversations typically center on dilutions, valuations, and the potential loss of control of company ownership. I always stress how critical it is to have a detailed understanding of who owns what at each stage of the business. Investors like VisionTech Angels look at that.
Investors also have questions about cap tables and how it changes with each funding round and the addition of new investors. Angel investors are particularly sensitive to changing cap tables because as early investors, we shoulder much of the risk of a startup.
In talking with Jason Schpok at Elevate Ventures, we agreed it would be a tremendous benefit to startup founders and investors to host a webinar on cap tables. So on Wednesday, July 20th, we did just that, presenting “Creating a Cap Table with an Investor’s Perspective in Mind.” Forty people joined the hour-long presentation and discussion and gave it high marks when surveyed after the event.
The content in the webinar is timeless – plus I’m sure I’ll have a few more of those Groundhog Day conversations on cap tables – so we’re posting the webinar here so more founders and investors can listen and learn at their pleasure. If you have additional questions, please reach out to me here.