In this episode of Venture Declassified, hosts Mike Kelly, Ben Pidgeon, and Jacob Schpok tackle one of the most overlooked—but most consequential—parts of startup investing: the cap table. From abandoned founder equity to a stack of mismatched SAFEs, the trio share war stories of cap tables that turn into what they like to call a “hot mess”—and why those messes can scare off the very investors a company needs most. Along the way, they unpack the mechanics behind dilution math, op...
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In this episode of Venture Declassified, hosts Mike Kelly, Ben Pidgeon, and Jacob Schpok tackle one of the most overlooked—but most consequential—parts of startup investing: the cap table. From abandoned founder equity to a stack of mismatched SAFEs, the trio share war stories of cap tables that turn into what they like to call a “hot mess”—and why those messes can scare off the very investors a company needs most. Along the way, they unpack the mechanics behind dilution math, op...
Navigating Follow-On Rounds Through Special Purpose Vehicles
Venture Declassified
28 minutes
2 months ago
Navigating Follow-On Rounds Through Special Purpose Vehicles
In this episode of Venture Declassified, hosts Jacob Schpok, Ben Pidgeon, and Mike Kelly unpack the inner workings of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and their role in managing follow-on investments. Drawing from recent real-world scenarios, the trio explores how SPVs are structured, how pro rata rights work in practice, and what happens when not all investors are on board for additional funding rounds. Ben shares a current “pay-to-play” situation, explaining how failing to parti...
Venture Declassified
In this episode of Venture Declassified, hosts Mike Kelly, Ben Pidgeon, and Jacob Schpok tackle one of the most overlooked—but most consequential—parts of startup investing: the cap table. From abandoned founder equity to a stack of mismatched SAFEs, the trio share war stories of cap tables that turn into what they like to call a “hot mess”—and why those messes can scare off the very investors a company needs most. Along the way, they unpack the mechanics behind dilution math, op...
