“Raising money” is not one decision. The instrument you use affects how fast you close, how much you agree now versus later, and how much you ultimately dilute.
Priced equity round
You sell shares at an agreed valuation. It is the cleanest and most final, but the slowest, and needs a valuation both sides accept — harder at the earliest stage.
Convertible notes
Debt that converts to equity later, usually at a discount and/or valuation cap. Faster than a priced round and defers valuation, but it carries interest and a maturity date, and behaves like debt if it doesn’t convert.
SAFEs
A simple agreement for future equity — no interest, no maturity, converting at the next priced round. Fast and founder-friendly, but several SAFEs at different caps can hide serious dilution.
The trap to avoid
Stacking convertibles or SAFEs at different caps without modelling the combined conversion. Founders routinely discover at the priced round that they gave away far more than they realised.
We model the cap table across instruments before you raise, so there are no dilution surprises at conversion.