Free tool · for founders

What does this raise actually cost you?

Enter your raise, your pre-money valuation and any new option pool, and see your post-money, the investor's share, and exactly how much of your company you give up. Then watch founder ownership erode across the rounds ahead.

What you own now

Founders and team combined, before this round. The rest is existing investors.

Amount you're raising

You can type it in full or short, like 1.5m or 500k.

Pre-money valuation

The valuation agreed before the new money goes in.

New option pool

A fresh pool for hires, carved out of the pre-money, so it dilutes you not the investor. Leave 0 if none.

The rounds after this one (assumptions)

Series A dilution

Series B dilution

You own after this round

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Post-money valuation

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New investor takes

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Option pool

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Your dilution

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Enter your numbers

Rules of thumb: a priced seed or Series A usually costs founders 15 to 25% for the new money, plus whatever option pool is created. Watch the pool: when it's carved out of the pre-money, it dilutes you and not the incoming investor, so a bigger pool is really a lower valuation in disguise. And dilution compounds. Every future round takes a slice of what's left, which is why founders who look like they own the company at seed often hold far less by Series B. New to the terms? The full guide to dilution is here.

Raising now, and want a second read on the terms?

Leave your details and we'll send back a fuller look at your round, with the levers that would move your dilution most and the traps we'd watch for. If it's a fit, someone from Product Pieces may follow up. No spam.

Next, from your result

Who should you raise from?

Match your startup to the funds that fit your stage, sector and geography, with the real submission route for each.

The Raise →

How long does the money last?

A raise resets the clock. The Runway Calculator tells you how long the new cash buys you.

Runway Calculator →

The case for equity over cash

Why dilution is the price of speed, and when trading equity beats spending your last pound.

Read N°48 →

About this tool

What The Round does.

Enter what you are raising and at what valuation, and it works the round through properly: post-money, what the investor owns, what an option pool carved out of the pre-money does to you rather than to them, and how ownership stacks down across successive rounds. The arithmetic is not hard. It is just rarely done before the term sheet is in front of someone.

Who it is for. First-time founders about to negotiate, and anyone weighing a six-figure spend against the share of the company it really costs. A build priced in pounds looks affordable. Priced in per cent it becomes a different question.

What it will not do. It is not legal or financial advice, it does not model liquidation preferences, anti-dilution or complex instruments, and it will not tell you whether the valuation is fair. It tells you what the ownership does.

Why does the option pool matter so much?

Because it is almost always carved out of the pre-money, which means the existing shareholders pay for it and the incoming investor does not. A ten per cent pool created that way costs founders roughly ten per cent of the company before the new money has landed.

What is the difference between pre-money and post-money?

Pre-money is what the company is agreed to be worth before the cheque; post-money is that plus the cheque. The investor's percentage is their money over the post-money, which is why the same headline valuation can mean two different outcomes.

Can I use this to price a build rather than a raise?

Yes, and it is the most useful thing you can do with it. Convert the phase cost into a share of the post-money and ask whether you would sell that much of the company for exactly what is in the statement of work.

Product Pieces · Senior product, by the piece. productpieces.io