Free calculator · Venture & Startup Finance
Ownership After the Round, the Option-Pool Shuffle
Calculates founder, investor, and option-pool ownership after a priced round under both a pre-money pool, which founders alone absorb, and a post-money pool shared pro rata. Inputs are the pre-money valuation, the new investment, and the option pool percentage.
By Devon Coombs, CPA, MBA · Teaching Professor of Finance, Santa Clara University · Reviewed August 2026
From the author: Devon Coombs, CPA, MBA teaches finance at Santa Clara University and works with corporate teams on practical AI.
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Ownership After the Round, the Option-Pool Shuffle
Pool timing
Founders
60.0%
Investor
25.0%
Option pool
15.0%
Post-money valuation
$20.0M
pre + investment
Investor (pre-pool)
25.0%
investment ÷ post-money
Same headline valuation, different founder ownership. A pre-money pool is carved out of the founders' share alone; a post-money pool is shared by everyone, worth about 3–4 points of founder ownership on a typical round.
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This calculator comes from the free Entrepreneurial Finance course, where the concept is taught with readings, worked examples, and practice questions.
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Built by Devon Coombs, CPA, MBA, Teaching Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University.