cap-table

name	cap-table
description	Model startup cap table ownership — SAFE conversions (cap, discount, post-money), priced rounds, option pool refreshes, and dilution. Use when calculating founder ownership percentages, converting SAFEs to equity, building pre-round or post-round cap tables, or estimating dilution from a Series A/B raise.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"1984 Ventures","version":"0.1.0"}

Cap Table Calculator

Model startup cap tables: ownership percentages, SAFE conversions, priced rounds, and option pool refreshes.

Install

npx skills add 1984vc/cap-table

This installs the skill into your project so coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) can use it. The CLI itself runs via npx @1984vc/cap-table — no separate install needed.

Commands

Command	When to use
existing	Just existing shareholders, no SAFEs or rounds
estimated-pre-round	Have SAFEs but no priced round yet — estimates ownership
pre-round	Know the priced round valuation — shows pre-money ownership
priced-round	Full priced round with SAFE conversions, series investors, option pool

Input Format

All commands accept a JSON object. You can pass it as an argument, pipe via stdin, or point to a .json file.

# As argument
npx @1984vc/cap-table priced-round '{...}'

# Via stdin
echo '{...}' | npx @1984vc/cap-table priced-round

# From file
npx @1984vc/cap-table priced-round ./input.json

Input Schema

{
  "preMoneyValuation": 12000000,
  "common": [
    { "name": "Founder 1", "shares": 4500000 },
    { "name": "Founder 2", "shares": 4500000 },
    { "name": "Options Pool", "shares": 1000000, "commonType": "unusedOptions" }
  ],
  "safes": [
    {
      "name": "Seed SAFE",
      "investment": 1000000,
      "cap": 10000000,
      "discount": 0,
      "conversionType": "post"
    }
  ],
  "seriesInvestors": [
    { "name": "Lead Investor", "investment": 2000000 }
  ],
  "targetOptionsPct": 0.10
}

Fields:

Field	Required	Default	Description
preMoneyValuation	priced-round, pre-round	—	Pre-money valuation in dollars
common[].name	yes	—	Shareholder name
common[].shares	yes	—	Number of shares
common[].commonType	no	"shareholder"	Use "unusedOptions" for unissued option pool
safes[].investment	yes	—	Dollar amount invested
safes[].cap	no	0	Valuation cap (0 = uncapped)
safes[].discount	no	0	Discount as decimal (0.2 = 20%)
safes[].conversionType	no	"post"	"pre" or "post" money conversion
safes[].sideLetters	no	—	Array: ["mfn"] for Most Favored Nation
seriesInvestors[].investment	yes	—	Dollar amount invested
targetOptionsPct	no	0.10	Target option pool % post-round
unusedOptions	no	auto-detected	Explicit unused options count

Note: You do NOT need to pass type: "common", type: "safe", etc. The CLI auto-fills these.

For existing only:

{
  "common": [
    { "name": "Founder 1", "shares": 8000000 },
    { "name": "Founder 2", "shares": 2000000 }
  ]
}

Output

existing → Array of rows

[
  { "name": "Founder 1", "shares": 8000000, "ownershipPct": 0.8, "type": "common" },
  { "name": "Founder 2", "shares": 2000000, "ownershipPct": 0.2, "type": "common" }
]

estimated-pre-round → Object

{
  "common": [...],
  "safes": [...],
  "total": { "name": "Total", "shares": 10666666, "investment": 500000, "ownershipPct": 1 }
}

priced-round / pre-round → Object with conversion + capTable

{
  "conversion": {
    "pps": 1.04836,
    "ppss": [0.90001],
    "totalShares": 13354265,
    "newSharesIssued": 3354265,
    "preMoneyShares": 10335426,
    "postMoneyShares": 11111098,
    "convertedSafeShares": 1111098,
    "seriesShares": 1907741,
    "additionalOptions": 335426,
    "totalOptions": 1335426,
    "totalInvested": 3000000
  },
  "capTable": {
    "common": [...],
    "safes": [
      { "name": "Seed SAFE", "investment": 1000000, "ownershipPct": 0.083, "shares": 1111098, "pps": 0.90001 }
    ],
    "series": [
      { "name": "Lead", "investment": 2000000, "ownershipPct": 0.143, "shares": 1907741, "pps": 1.04836 }
    ],
    "refreshedOptionsPool": { "shares": 1335426, "ownershipPct": 0.1 },
    "total": { "shares": 13354265, "investment": 3000000, "ownershipPct": 1 }
  }
}

Key Concepts

SAFE Conversion

SAFEs convert to equity at a priced round. The investor gets the better of two prices:

• Cap price: cap / shares (guarantees minimum ownership %)
• Discount price: (1 - discount) * seriesPPS (discount off round price)

Pre-money SAFEs convert on the pre-money share count. Post-money SAFEs (YC standard) guarantee a fixed ownership % post-money.

MFN (Most Favored Nation)

An MFN SAFE has no explicit cap but gets the lowest cap from subsequent capped SAFEs. Pass sideLetters: ["mfn"].

Option Pool Refresh

targetOptionsPct controls the post-round option pool size (common: 10-20%). The gap between current unissued pool and target creates additional dilution shared by existing shareholders.

Ownership Percentages

All ownershipPct values are decimals: 0.45 = 45%. The solver iteratively converges on self-consistent share counts.

Quick Examples

# Simple existing ownership
npx @1984vc/cap-table existing '{
  "common": [
    {"name": "Alice", "shares": 6000000},
    {"name": "Bob", "shares": 4000000}
  ]
}'

# Pre-round with SAFEs (no priced round)
npx @1984vc/cap-table estimated-pre-round '{
  "common": [
    {"name": "Founder", "shares": 8000000},
    {"name": "Pool", "shares": 2000000, "commonType": "unusedOptions"}
  ],
  "safes": [
    {"name": "Angel 1", "investment": 250000, "cap": 5000000},
    {"name": "Angel 2", "investment": 500000, "cap": 8000000}
  ]
}'

# Full Series A
npx @1984vc/cap-table priced-round '{
  "preMoneyValuation": 20000000,
  "common": [
    {"name": "CEO", "shares": 4000000},
    {"name": "CTO", "shares": 4000000},
    {"name": "Pool", "shares": 500000},
    {"name": "Unissued", "shares": 500000, "commonType": "unusedOptions"}
  ],
  "safes": [
    {"name": "Seed Fund", "investment": 1500000, "cap": 8000000}
  ],
  "seriesInvestors": [
    {"name": "Series A Lead", "investment": 5000000}
  ],
  "targetOptionsPct": 0.15
}'

Error Handling

Invalid input (e.g., SAFE investment >= cap) exits with non-zero code and error to stderr. Always check the exit code.

Advanced

For programmatic TypeScript/JavaScript use: npm install @1984vc/cap-table. See references/library-api.md for the full API, math foundations, and type reference.

• GitHub: https://github.com/1984vc/cap-table
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@1984vc/cap-table