I commend you for sharing this. A couple issues for you to consider: Share price isn't always set in that clean a manner, as you'll learn when you fundraise. I

I commend you for sharing this. A couple issues for you to consider: Share price isn't always set in that clean a manner, as you'll learn when you fundraise. It's nice when your math works out like this: "if Clef is worth $20m and we raise $5m, we are now worth $25m. If you owned 5% of $20m before, you now own 4% of $25m (we sold 20% of the company, or, said differently, diluted you by 20%). The 5% stake was worth $1m before the fundraise and the 4% stake is now worth $1m." but often you end up with a bit more complexity. Beware simple examples can still set expectations. Converting notes with discounts is one example of this. Preferred and common are not treated the same way, and it is unlikely you will escape selling preferred shares to your next investor. Early exercise would actually be far more tax advantageous to your employees. You can do this "cashless" as an even greater benefit.