This guide breaks down an important tool in the founder compensation playbook: top-up equity grants. We explore when top-ups make sense, how to minimize tax impact, and what documentation is required to get it right.

This post is Part II of a two-part series decoding the “NVCA” term sheet. Here, we focus on the key governance terms, including board composition, investor vetoes, information rights, and rights in an exit.

This post is Part I of a two-part series decoding the “NVCA” term sheet. Here, we focus on the economic terms that determine ownership, dilution, and exit proceeds.

This post walks through what a Delaware flip actually involves, why U.S. investors often require it, and where complexity tends to arise in practice. We also cover timing considerations, key tax and compliance issues founders should understand, and what comes next once the restructuring is complete.

Instead of replacing lawyers in venture financings, AI is transforming legal work by eliminating inefficiencies so experienced counsel can deliver faster, better, and more cost-effective outcomes that meet investors’ fiduciary and regulatory obligations.

In this post, we dive into the fundamentals of stock options: how stock options are granted, how vesting schedules work, what acceleration means, the difference between ISOs and NSOs, how strike prices are determined, what it means to early exercise, and what happens to options upon termination.

In the second installment of our Founder Compensation Series, we break down the modern liquidity tools that allow founders to responsibly monetize a portion of their equity before an IPO or acquisition, without undermining company or investor alignment.

Beginning the year with a corporate audit enables startups to address critical compliance gaps and organize essential records. When venture funding or M&A opportunities arise, prepared companies can execute decisively.

In Part 1 of our Founder Compensation Series, we break down the importance of issuing founder equity properly from the start. We explain the key timing considerations, the 83(b) election that cannot be missed, and how to structure vesting and acceleration to balance co-founder and investor interests. 

Carta's comprehensive 2025 State of Startups report provides a data-rich roadmap for navigating the year ahead. Here are the ten critical trends every founder and investor should understand.