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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.