Priced round

Carolynn Levy explains how early-stage startup fundraising shifted from lengthy, expensive preferred stock rounds toward faster, more flexible convertible securities, especially YC’s SAFE. She compares preferred stock, convertible promissory notes, and SAFEs, including how each affects ownership, debt, negotiation, and fundraising speed. She advises founders to track dilution and investor relationships, and discusses tradeoffs such as party rounds and the possibility that a SAFE may never convert. Her guidance is to choose the financing structure that fits the company and investors, while prioritizing getting back to building the business.

Kirsty Nathoo explains how SAFEs work, how they differ from convertible debt, and what founders should understand in their terms and conversion mechanics. She shows how post-money SAFEs make it easier to estimate ownership sold, then walks through dilution as a company hires employees, expands its option pool, and raises a priced Series A. The examples illustrate how SAFE conversion, option-pool increases, and new investment change ownership percentages. She closes with practical advice: track dilution, understand the documents, and avoid pushing valuation caps higher than necessary.