Clerky

Geoff Ralston explains how founders can prepare for fundraising: build a clear, credible story about the company’s opportunity, research investors, practice the pitch, and raise when the company is in a strong position. He covers how much to raise, valuation, dilution, SAFEs and equity, and the different roles of angels and venture capitalists. He also offers practical advice for investor meetings and negotiations, including listening, seeking feedback, reading every document, and avoiding over-optimizing the deal. He closes by emphasizing that fundraising is a step toward building a lasting business, not the goal itself.

Carolynn Levy, Jon Levy, and Jason Kwon explain the legal steps involved in starting a company, from incorporating and issuing founder stock to setting up a board, keeping records, and handling taxes. They recommend keeping the company’s finances and documents organized, using vesting for founder shares, and filing an 83(b) election promptly after buying stock. They also discuss common problems such as unpaid workers, unclear intellectual property ownership, founder breakups, and promises of employee equity. The panel answers questions about incorporation services, fundraising, hiring across borders, and when to seek legal advice.

Carolynn Levy and Kirsty Nathoo explain how Y Combinator’s SAFE works as an early-stage investment instrument, including its valuation cap, conversion math, and what happens in acquisitions, failures, or when a company stays private. They walk through a cap table example to show how options pools and later investment affect ownership. They also cover signing and reviewing SAFEs, protecting investor rights, and modeling possible outcomes. Their closing advice is to support founders, tolerate pivots and failure, and be patient.