Cap Table Calculator

Capitalization table (cap table) tracks ownership across founders, employees, and investors. Total shares outstanding × latest share price = company valuation. Each stakeholder's % × total = their share value. Critical for valuing equity grants and modeling future dilution.

Founders 6M shares + employee pool 1.5M + investors 2.5M = 10M total shares at 5 = 50M company. Founders own 60% (30M), employees 15% (7.5M), investors 25% (12.5M). Standard early Series A structure. Future rounds dilute existing holders proportionally to new investment.

Cap table evolves through funding rounds. Each new round: new shares issued at higher price, existing % reduced (dilution) but value typically rises. Healthy startup: founders 50-70% pre-Series A, 30-50% pre-Series C, 10-20% at IPO. Heavy dilution beyond these levels signals founder loss of control or hostile investor terms.

Quick example

With founder shares of 6,000,000 and employee pool shares of 1,500,000 (plus investor shares of 2,500,000 and total shares outstanding of 10,000,000), the result is 50,000,000.00. Change any figure and watch the output shift — it's often more useful to see the pattern than to memorise the formula.

Which inputs matter most

You enter Founder Shares, Employee Pool Shares, Investor Shares, Total Shares Outstanding, and Latest Share Price. Not every input has equal weight. Adjusting one input at a time toward extreme values shows which ones move the result most.

What's happening under the hood

Each holder %: shares ÷ total × 100. Value: shares × latest price. Total value: total shares × price. The formula is listed in full below. If the number looks off, you can retrace the calculation by hand — that's the point of showing the working.

Where this fits in planning

This is a "what-if" tool, not a forecast. Use it to test ideas before committing: what happens if the rate is 2% lower than hoped, what happens if you add five more years. The value is in the scenarios you run, not the single answer you get from the defaults.

What this doesn't capture

Steady-rate math ignores real-world volatility. Actual returns are lumpy; sequence-of-returns risk matters most in drawdown; fees and taxes drag on compound growth; and behaviour changes in drawdowns can reduce outcomes below the projection. The number represents one scenario rather than a forecast.