Founders Lounge

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

Hi. How do your founders structure Advisory board compensation packages?
structure and typical size is what I am after. 

thank you! 

Anna Haskell

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

• Many startups have between 2-5 strategic advisors, depending on the company's needs
• Oftentimes it is Options that are issued to advisors, through the company's Equity Plan/Option Pool - this means the advisor will have the ability to exercise their options/purchase their shares as they vest
• The options usually vest monthly over a period of 1 or 2 years, depending on the company's need for the advisor long-term (eg. 1200 options issued to advisor and vest over 1 year, so they vest - earn - 100 options per month)
• Advisor option grants can vary greatly, but I usually don't see them over 1% of the company, and that's only the best advisors who will really open doors for you and help you greatly (1% is also more likely if your company is in its very early stages. Other advisor grants that I've seen range from about 0.1 - 0.5% of the company.

Hi. How do your founders structure Advisory board compensation packages?
structure and typical size is what I am after. 

thank you! 

Anna Haskell

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.

• Many startups have between 2-5 strategic advisors, depending on the company's needs
• Oftentimes it is Options that are issued to advisors, through the company's Equity Plan/Option Pool - this means the advisor will have the ability to exercise their options/purchase their shares as they vest
• The options usually vest monthly over a period of 1 or 2 years, depending on the company's need for the advisor long-term (eg. 1200 options issued to advisor and vest over 1 year, so they vest - earn - 100 options per month)
• Advisor option grants can vary greatly, but I usually don't see them over 1% of the company, and that's only the best advisors who will really open doors for you and help you greatly (1% is also more likely if your company is in its very early stages. Other advisor grants that I've seen range from about 0.1 - 0.5% of the company.

Hi. How do your founders structure Advisory board compensation packages?
structure and typical size is what I am after. 

thank you! 

Anna Haskell

Hello, fellow founders! My name is Chris and I am the founder of Equity Admin Co. We are a firm that specializes in Equity Administration for companies who use Carta. We provide standard equity administration and cap table updates - issuances, transfers, modifications, etc. - financial reporting (ASC 718) help, and anything else equity related that is done on or off Carta's platform.

It was in 2018, when I started working at Carta, that I discovered I could have a career in equity. I had previously been in college for 7 years and could never find a degree or topic that I was passionate about. When I started at Carta and discovered this new world, I walked away from school without hesitation - I had found my passion!

In 2019, a new role at Carta opened up as a Stock Plan Administrator. We offered an additional service to take the actual management of the cap table out of the hands of the company executives and their attorneys, and it was a huge hit among founders. A few months later I left on paternity leave with my first son, and while I was out, my boss decided to leave Carta…I came back a month later and they told me they were no longer going to offer our service, but that I could keep working with my current clients until their contracts were up. For the next year, I continued my work and also worked a different position at Carta, but I missed actually managing cap tables full-time. In August 2020 I talked to Carta about starting my own firm that specialized in their platform, and they were more than supportive.

I was able to take my business full-time in March 2021 and I now have a team of 3 additional consultants (all ex-Carta) who help manage company cap tables and equity data. We have about 15 current clients that range from newly-incorporated startups to massive decacorns. The total valuation of our clients is above $90 billion, and we're blessed to work with some of the most amazing founders and companies on the planet.

I want to share some cap table and equity tips for founders:

1. Make sure your cap table is up-to-date from the incorporation of your company. The sooner you ensure accuracy (and maintain it), the less money you'll spend later trying to go back through years of documents to make sure it's right - and the less headache you'll have during an audit or due diligence in the future.
2. Assign one person to manage your cap table (whether that's internal or external), and make sure they have bandwidth to handle it and make sure it's up-to-date. Your equity is simple to manage when you first begin, but if you scale quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with it when you don't have someone dedicated to it.
3. When offering equity to your employees, be open and transparent with them regarding what type of equity they are receiving, how much they are receiving, and what it's currently worth (FMV & preferred price, if applicable). The more answers you can offer up front, the less you'll have to worry about your employees being distrusting or disheartened later, because they feel like you were dishonest early on.