What you need to know to prepare for onboarding

Here’s everything you need to know about preparing for  the smoothest onboarding process with Carta. In this blog post we’ll share some tips and tricks to help you make your onboarding a breeze.

 

Getting started

Firstly, you need to start with a current cap table, a state stamped article of incorporation … and a knowledgeable Implementation Manager from Carta to help you on this equity journey.

 

Sure, all of this can seem new and daunting, but don’t worry, we’re here to guide you through every step of the process. Below, you will find EXACTLY what we need within a cap table:

 

Cap table (common and preferred share classes)

  • First/last name

  • Email address

  • Quantity

  • Issue date

  • Price per share (Should this be different than the Par Value listed in your articles of incorporation)

  • Cash paid, if any, for the shares

 

That’s it. You or your legal team will probably have this listed on an excel spreadsheet already. If not, you may have some documents with this information. We know some of you are brand new to this and may not have any of this information yet--  this is why you came to Carta.

 

In order to set you up in the Carta platform, we usually need at least one security to be issued. Like common shares (which is usually issued to founders of the company when it’s incorporated), a SAFE, convertible note, or even a warrant.

 

You may also have an employee, or many, that you have issued option grants to. More than likely, you’ve even come to Carta for a 409a Valuation before you start hiring and offering option grants. Wherever you might be on your journey, we would need the following information to set up your equity plan:

 

Equity Plan

  • Equity incentive plan with board approval date

  • Blank/templated form of your option agreement

  • Blank/templated form of your exercise agreement

 

If you have already issued option grants, we need the following information:

  • First/last name

  • Email address

  • Quantity

  • Grant type: available types: ISO, NSO, RSU, SAR, EMI, INTL, 3(i), 102 capital gains track, 102 ordinary income track, CSOP, EMI, non-trustee

  • Exercise price

  • Grant date

  • Board approval date

  • Vesting commencement date

  • Vesting schedule

 

If you don’t have any of the documents above, Carta has a new function on our platform where you can easily create your equity plan from scratch. It’s pretty impressive.

 

Some of the other investing instruments you’ve used that we want to capture on the cap table could be a SAFE, convertible note, or even a warrant. You can find a definition of all these, and more, through our Carta Support Center. 

 

Below, is the information we need for each item:

 

SAFEs

  • Blank/templated form of SAFE (actual signed SAFE is acceptable)

  • First/last name

  • Email address

  • Issue date

  • Principal amount

  • Valuation cap type: pre-money or post-money

 

Convertible Notes 

  • Blank/templated form of convertible note (actual signed convertible note is acceptable)

  • First/last name

  • Email address

  • Issue date

  • Principal amount

  • Interest rate

  • Maturity date

 

Warrants (we do not capture token warrants at this time)

  • Blank/templated form of warrants (actual signed Warrants is acceptable)

  • First/last name

  • Email address

  • Issue date

  • Exercise price

  • Expiration date

  • Board approval date

 
Here’s a sample of documents from our Carta Support Center, should you be a visual learner like me.

 

And there you have it: all the information you’d ever need to get ready for your Carta onboarding. I, or one of my equity expert colleagues, can’t wait to help you on this journey!