Capfolder · Help · Getting started

Add your founders

Tell Capfolder who owns the company today: each founder, how many shares they got, and how those shares vest. It takes about two minutes.

Orange boxes mark what to look at or click. Click a screenshot to enlarge it.

Before you start

Have these at hand. They're in your certificate of incorporation and the founders' stock purchase agreements:

Authorized shares and par value
Each founder's name, email and number of shares
The date the shares were issued, and the vesting start date

1. Choose "Start from zero"

After you create your company folder, Capfolder asks how you want to start. If you used Pulley or Carta, Import is quicker. Otherwise pick Start from zero.

The 'How do you want to start?' screen with four cards: Import from Pulley or Carta, Start from zero, I only have documents, and Try the sample company. — Not ready yet? Try the sample company first. Nothing in it is saved.

2. Fill in each founder

Answer the three quick questions (or skip them), then enter authorized shares and par value.
For each founder: name, email, shares and issued on.
Pick the vesting: 4 years · 1-year cliff · monthly is the usual one; choose No vesting if their shares were fully theirs from day one.
Click Add another founder for each co-founder. The cap table on the right fills in as you type.

The 'Who are the founders?' step with two founders, Steve Gates and Ben Okafor, each with 4,000,000 shares and a 4-year vesting schedule. On the right, a live cap table shows 50% each. — Each founder's shares show as a percentage of authorized shares, and the cap table on the right updates live.

Not sure what a field means? Click the ? next to it for a one-line explanation.

3. Save, then check your cap table

Click Next through the option pool and SAFE steps (you can add those later), then Save cap table. Your founders appear on the cap table, and the Get started list ticks off what's done.

The cap table screen: a Get started list with Company details, Share classes and Founders marked done, and below it two founders with 50% each. — "What's missing" on the right lists the signed documents to attach next.

Words used here

Authorized shares: The most shares the company is allowed to issue, set in its certificate of incorporation.
Par value: A tiny legal minimum price per share, often $0.00001. It rarely matters day to day.
Vesting and cliff: Founders earn their shares over time (often 4 years). With a 1-year cliff, nothing vests until the first anniversary, then a year's worth vests at once.

Something unclear? Tell us on GitHub. Capfolder isn't legal advice: check your documents with a lawyer.