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.
Interactive Tool
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.
Learn the concept
This calculator comes from the free Entrepreneurial Finance course, where the concept is taught with readings, worked examples, and practice questions.
Built by Devon Coombs, CPA, MBA, Teaching Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University.