Plain version: a SAFE is a promise you gave an early investor to hand them shares later, once you raise a priced round (that priced round is the "term sheet"). The day it closes, each SAFE turns into real ownership — and that slice is usually bigger than the "we raised $X" number in your head. Sign more than one and the surprises add up. You don't need to know the jargon to start: run the instant estimate below, and the full report converts your real stack across every scenario in 48 hours, flat fee.
Three little things quietly cost founders the most ownership — stacking SAFEs, an MFN clause, and uncapped SAFEs. Each is explained plainly, one at a time, in the 2-minute guide →
This is a reviewed order, not one-click checkout — on purpose. A human reads your stack first so we can catch anything the engine can't model and tell you before you pay a cent, not after. The sequence: you submit your stack → we email a payment link within 1 business day → the report lands within 48 hours of payment. That's 2–3 business days end to end. Live term sheet on the clock? Tick the rush box on the order form: same-business-day payment link and delivery within 24 hours of payment, at no extra charge.
Built by an IR / corporate-development operator who raised $50M+ across financings — structuring and converting SAFEs, notes, and preferred instruments on real cap tables — and took a tech company through a full IPO listing process end to end, watching how an early stack carries all the way to the public register.
A quick stage benchmark, run by the same core engine as the paid report — simplified to a single blended SAFE block. You set the three inputs that move the answer most (capital raised, stage, cap posture); it fills in stage-typical existing shares and pre-money so you get a number in seconds without a full intake. Nothing leaves your browser. The paid report swaps every placeholder for your real cap table and resolves each instrument separately.
New to SAFEs? Start with this 2-minute guide →
Baseline = the block if you eyeball "capital raised ÷ post-money." Improved = what the engine's cap-price conversion actually produces. Single-scenario and rounded; the report does the full multi-scenario waterfall, per-instrument MFN/discount resolution, and warning map. Analytical modeling of the numbers you enter — not investment, legal, or tax advice.
How it works
"Reprices against" just means this: your converting SAFEs claim ownership before the new investor's money lands, so a lead quietly subtracts that slice from the pre-money valuation they offer you. A lawyer explains what the terms are. A CFO is a monthly retainer. Neither sits down and builds the pro-forma across the three pre-money numbers you're actually weighing. That gap — the numbers — is all this is.
Your current fully-diluted shares, every SAFE and note (cap, discount, MFN, note interest), and the bear / base / bull priced rounds you're considering. Takes about five minutes.
Deterministic cap-table algebra runs your stack through each scenario: cap-vs-discount-vs-MFN selection, the option-pool shuffle, note interest — the full circular solve, not a back-of-envelope.
Six sections: pro-forma cap table, per-instrument conversion, ownership waterfall, stacking-warning map, market-terms benchmark, and what a lead will re-open. Flat fee, no equity, no success fee. (You submit your stack first; we email a payment link within 1 business day.)
| Do it yourself / free tools | Startup lawyer | Fractional CFO | RoundEconomics | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $400–600/hr several billed hours for this analysis |
$5,000–15,000/mo | Flat $390 one-time |
| Turnaround | Hours — if you trust your own math | Days to weeks | Ongoing engagement | 48 hours from payment |
| Builds dilution scenarios | Only if your stack lives on Carta/AngelList | No — explains terms, not scenarios | Yes | Yes — bear / base / bull |
| Catches MFN / stacking traps | Only if you know to look | If you ask the right question | Yes | Yes — flagged with severity |
| Methodology | Varies | Legal, not quantitative | Bespoke spreadsheet | Deterministic, auditable, public math |
Lawyer figure is a typical range for a SAFE-conversion analysis at $400–600/hr; your actual quote will vary. If your cap table already lives on Carta or AngelList, those tools model conversion for free — use them and keep your $390.
What arrives
Your four prior instruments convert to ~15–16% of the post-round company before the new lead's money — a block most founders under-count because SAFEs aren't shares until they convert. (Break the team's option pool out and the two founders alone hold ~53–56% — the full sample shows both views.)
| Scenario | Founders + team | SAFEs |
|---|---|---|
| Bear $12M pre | 57.2% | 16.1% |
| Base $18M pre | 58.7% | 15.4% |
| Bull $26M pre | 61.6% | 15.3% |
Almost all the swing comes from the new money — not your SAFEs, which are already fixed.
| Instrument | On | % |
|---|---|---|
| Lead SAFE | Cap | 6.82% |
| Syndicate | MFN→$6M | 4.09% |
| Bridge (unc.) | Discount | 2.27% |
| Note 6%/14mo | Cap | 2.19% |
| Founders | 53.6% |
| Existing pool | 5.1% |
| New pool top-up | 10.0% |
| Converted SAFEs | 15.4% |
| New investors | 15.9% |
Sums to 100.00% — the option-pool shuffle broken out so you see who pays for it.
| Typical raise | $2–4M |
| Typical cap | $12–20M |
| Median dilution | 18–22% |
Your pre-seed caps ($6M, $8M) sit below the seed range — expected, and now you can say so out loud.
Option-pool top-up, and the uncapped bridge's discount, are the two other lines a lead most commonly re-opens.
Read the complete sample report — 70 pages, fictional company, real engine →
The sample is dense on purpose — it's the real output. New to SAFEs and want the plain-English version first? Start with the 2-minute guide →
The report isn't generic. Each thing you type on the intake drives a specific page. Page numbers below are the real pages in the sample.
Pricing
Three ways in, all one-time. The report does the same math either way; the tiers differ in scope and hand-holding.
A discount for founders who already bought a RaiseReady fundraise-readiness report — this goes deeper on its round-economics section. New here? Skip this tier and take the standalone report.
The standalone report, built from your cap table.
For accelerators, syndicates, and batch orders.
How ordering works: you submit your stack on the order form (no card is charged there), a human reviews it — so we can flag a stack we can't model and tell you before you pay, not after — and we email a payment link within 1 business day. Card payments are processed by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record (it is the seller and handles sales tax / VAT); batch / enterprise orders over $1,000 are invoiced by bank wire — no card, no US entity required on our end. The report lands within 48 hours of payment, so plan on 2–3 business days end to end.
Honest, methodology-derived ranges — how big the converted-SAFE block typically is by stage and cap posture. Bigger blocks = more dilution most founders under-count = more the report surfaces. Which column are you? Compare your lowest SAFE cap to the pre-money you expect to raise at: a cap well below it (e.g. a $6M cap into an $18M+ round) is tight; a cap at or above it is generous; in between is typical. The 2-minute guide walks through reading your own cap. One caveat: a discount or MFN clause can make a higher-cap SAFE dilute more than a lower-cap one — if you have either, read this table as a floor, not your real number.
| Your situation | Tight caps | Typical caps | Generous caps | What the report surfaces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed → seed ~$0.5–1.5M raised | 10–14% | 6–9% | 4–6% | Whether stacked pre-seed SAFEs already add past your comfort line. |
| Seed → Series A ~$1–3M raised | 10–16% | 6–9% | 4–6% | The exact block a lead reprices your pre-money against. |
| Series A (priced) ~$2–4M in SAFEs | 9–13% | 5–7% | 3–5% | How much of your A the converting stack claims before the lead's money. |
Ranges are directional, derived from the same engine and public cap distributions (Carta / PitchBook / YC / Cooley GO), given as ranges. Your real number depends on your executed documents. If your block is small and your stack is simple, you may not need us — we'll say so.
Who's behind this
Built by an investor-relations and corporate-development operator who raised $50M+ across financings — including structuring and converting SAFEs, notes, and preferred instruments and managing their treatment on the cap table through diligence — and took a tech company through a full IPO listing process end-to-end, so the same early-stack decisions were seen through to where they finally settle. To be plain about the vantage: this is the operator's seat — the one that builds the cap table and sits across from investors — not a lawyer's or a banker's. That's exactly why the product is dilution numbers and scenarios, not legal opinions or valuations, and why we point you to your own counsel to verify before you sign.
The conversion arithmetic is public and standard — YC's own post-money SAFE mechanics, classic dilution algebra — which is why the engine is deterministic and auditable, and why the credibility here rests on math you can check, not on a résumé you can't. The whole engine is open-book on the methodology page; the sample report shows every figure re-derived line by line.
inha.journey@gmail.com — a human replies within one business day. Cross-border founders (Korea ↔ US) welcome; bilingual on request.
Every figure traces to YC post-money SAFE mechanics, KRX / SEC-grade public regs, and cited Carta / PitchBook / Cooley GO distributions. No black box — see /methodology.
Because we review before charging, the fit conversation happens up front: tell us your stack in the order notes and we'll say honestly if it's too simple to be worth $390 — before you pay. And if the engine can't model your stack, or the report has a computational error against your inputs, email us within 7 days for a fix or a full refund (spelled out in the terms). We'd rather point you to a free tool than sell you a bad fit.
A human replies within one business day with your payment link, and the standard report lands within 48 hours of payment. Boardroom orders get a 24-hour priority turnaround.
Flat fee only. We don't charge success fees, take equity, introduce investors, or transact in securities — which is exactly why we can be honest about your numbers.
Straight talk
Questions
The converted SAFE block in a typical seed stack is worth six or seven figures at post-money — it is the single number a lead reprices your pre-money against. The report models that block exactly across the scenarios you're weighing. The same SAFE-conversion analysis from a startup lawyer billing $400–600/hr runs several thousand dollars and comes back as legal terms, not dilution scenarios; a fractional CFO who could build it costs $5,000–15,000/month. The report is flat and one-time. Try the calculator at the top to see the block value for your own numbers.
The engine is deterministic standard cap-table algebra — YC's own post-money SAFE mechanics plus classic priced-round dilution — so the same inputs always produce the same numbers, and you can test the core of it in the calculator above. But conversion depends on your exact executed documents, which can carry terms an engine can't see. That's why every report says, prominently: figures are not warranted for accuracy; have your securities counsel verify every one before you sign anything.
The report is analytical modeling you bring to the table so you know your own converted-stack number before the lead computes it for you. It is not a legal opinion or a valuation, and it does not replace counsel — it makes your conversation with counsel and with the lead faster and better-informed. It's built by an operator who took a tech company through a full IPO listing process and structured convertible and preferred instruments on real cap tables through diligence.
Pre-seed through the seed → Series A conversion, with at least one SAFE or note that hasn't priced yet — ideally two or more, or any MFN / uncapped / discount interaction. If your stack is a single capped SAFE and it already lives on Carta, you probably don't need us, and we say so on this page. Series B+ companies are past this problem. The self-qualify grid above shows how big your converted block typically is by stage and cap posture.
Ordering is a reviewed request, not one-click checkout: you submit your stack, a human reads it and emails a payment link within 1 business day (that review is where we catch a stack we can't model and tell you before charging you), and the report lands within 48 hours of payment — plan on 2–3 business days end to end. On a live term sheet? Tick the rush box on the order form for a same-business-day payment link and delivery within 24 hours of payment, at no extra charge. Boardroom / batch orders get a 24-hour priority turnaround. Card payments run through Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record — it's the seller, handles sales tax / VAT, and pays out internationally, so no US entity is required on our end. Batch / enterprise orders over $1,000 are invoiced by bank wire (Wise USD), with a standard USD invoice / receipt.
The engine models US-style instruments specifically — YC's post-money SAFE, legacy pre-money SAFEs, US convertible notes, and a US-style priced round with an option pool. If you're a cross-border founder raising on those terms (Korea ↔ US), you're in scope. Korean-only instruments like RCPS or 조건부지분전환계약 follow different conversion and preference conventions and are not modeled by the standard engine — tell us in the order notes and we'll say honestly whether we can help before you pay, rather than forcing a US template onto a Korean instrument.
Enter your stack in about five minutes. A human reviews it and emails a payment link within 1 business day, then your 70-page report — every figure re-derived from your real cap table across bear / base / bull — lands within 48 hours of payment. Realistically 2–3 business days end to end; flat $390, full refund if the engine can't model your stack.
No signup to try the estimate · a human replies within 1 business day · no equity, no success fee