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Equity Management
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Equity Management
All Equity Management
From issuing early equity to IPO, build and scale your business on one platform
Cap Table Management
Issue, track, and process payments for your company's equity securely
409A Valuations
Enter audits with confidence with tailored, cost-effective valuations
SAFE Financings
Issue SAFEs, collect signatures, and move money securely on one platform
Financial Reporting
Generate your latest stock-based compensation reports in a few clicks
Equity Advisory
Empower your team with actionable tax and equity knowledge
Total Compensation
Get reliable salary and equity benchmarks
Liquidity
Execute secondary transactions that fully integrate with your cap table
QSBS Attestation
Optimize your equity tax benefit with the QSBS tax exemption
Launch
For early-stage founders to manage equity and build their cap table
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Fund Management
All Fund Management
Leverage a suite of products and services to support your firm at every stage
Fund Administration
Automate your back office with solutions from scenario modeling to closings
Fund Formations
Form your fund, administer the first close, and execute capital calls in six weeks
Fund Tax
Unlock a seamless tax season with your fund accounting and taxes in one place
SPVs
Form, close, and administer your SPV in just a few clicks
Tactyc Forecasting & Planning
Guide your fund’s strategy with data-driven precision
ASC 820
Get audit-ready valuations for consistent financial reporting
Capital Call Line of Credit
Access capital outside your regular call cadence
Connect Ramp to Carta
New
Watch fund expenses flow seamlessly from card swipe to general ledger
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The first unified software suite delivering precision and control
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For Equity Management
Find the solutions you need to drive your business forward at any stage
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For Fund Management
Providing VCs with an automated back office to help them run funds of any size
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For Private Equity
Built for PE funds and portcos (LLC or C-Corp) to manage ownership
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Launch
For early-stage founders to manage equity and build their cap table
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Early-Stage Founder
Our curated collection for early-stage founders
Get inspired and level-up with articles, guides, and tools to help you go from pre-seed to Series B—and everything in between.
Getting started
Tools
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Getting started
Author:
The Carta Team
Date:
June 2023
featured article
How to start a startup
Founders have several considerations when starting a startup. Here’s what you need to know to take your company from idea to IPO.
Founder Education
February 2024
Building your founding team
In this article, we’ll cover the various startup positions, when to bring on which type of founding team member, and general guidelines to help you build your founding team.
View
Founder Education
January 2024
Startup metrics and KPIs
This glossary covers the basic startup metrics and startup KPIs to know and when to use them to help grow your business.
View
Founder Education
September 2024
Startup accelerators
Joining an accelerator can be a game-changer, providing startups with mentorship, resources, and funding at a key moment in their development.
View
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Popular tools
Cap table template
View tool
Option pool calculator
View tool
QSBS calculator
View tool
Pitch deck template
View tool
Building a team
How to find a co-founder for your startup
A founder’s guide to selecting a startup law firm
How to find a startup advisor
Board of directors (BoD): What founders need to know
Video courses
VIDEO COURSE
Startup Fundraising 101
Learn about the ins and outs of startup fundraising.
VIDEO COURSE
Cap Table 101
Understand cap tables from the founder’s chair—from incorporation to the exit of a fictional company.
VIDEO COURSE
The seed round
Ready to create your first cap table? Begin the journey of a fictional company as we build a cap table from scratch, bring in an advisor, raise early funding rounds, and hire our first employees.
VIDEO COURSE
Startup Fundraising 101
Learn about the ins and outs of startup fundraising.
Cap Table 101
Understand cap tables from the founder’s chair—from incorporation to the exit of a fictional company.
The seed round
Ready to create your first cap table? Begin the journey of a fictional company as we build a cap table from scratch, bring in an advisor, raise early funding rounds, and hire our first employees.
Fundraising
Term sheets
A term sheet outlines the key terms of a startup investor’s offer. Learn how to read an investor term sheet before your next fundraising round.
Share dilution
Share dilution is the reduction in an existing shareholder’s ownership percentage after a fundraising round. Learn how to prepare your startup for dilution.
Series A funding
The Series A funding round is typically the first priced round your company raises. Here’s what you need to know about raising your Series A.
Data rooms
A virtual data room is a secure place to organize, store, and share confidential documents and information. Learn how to build a data room for investors.
Term sheets
A term sheet outlines the key terms of a startup investor’s offer. Learn how to read an investor term sheet before your next fundraising round.
Share dilution
Series A funding
Data rooms
Explore the Fundraising Collection
The easiest way to issue SAFEs
Create agreements, collect signatures, and receive funding—all through one connected platform.
Learn more
Equity management
Author:
The Carta Team
Date:
February 2025
featured article
Cap tables
In this article, we explain everything early-stage founders need to know about cap tables, including how to build a cap table, manage company ownership, and prepare for fundraising.
Educational Essentials
June 2025
409A valuation
Learn everything you need to know about 409A valuations including what they are, when you need a valuation, valuation methodologies, and the full process.
View
Founder Education
March 2025
Equity management
As your company grows, equity management can get complex. This comprehensive guide explains the basics of equity management and why it is essential for startup success.
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Equity Education
March 2025
Fair market value (FMV)
Learn about fair market value, what it means for stock, how to determine a stock’s fair market value, and why 409A valuations are so crucial for private companies.
View
Founder Education
August 2023
Co-founder equity split
Finding an equity split that all co-founders are comfortable with is complicated. Learn how to split equity with our free co-founder equity calculator.
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Equity Education
January 2024
Equity glossary
Carta's ever-growing glossary of financial and private equity terms will help you understand the jargon that frequently comes up in the industry.
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Equity Education
April 2023
Equity in business
Equity is the portion of a company that is owned by shareholders. We'll guide you through the basics of business equity ownership.
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Taxes
Alternative minimum tax (AMT)
Schedule K-1 tax form
Venture capital tax treatment
How taxes work for LLCs
Explore the Taxes Collection
Product-market fit and go-to-market: Insights from an early-stage VC
Rebecca Lynn, co-founder and general partner at Canvas Ventures, shares strategies for early-stage companies looking to grow their customer base.
Read her story
Founder stories
Mivien Labs
Learn more
Dapple Security
Learn more
Coffee Resurrect
Learn more
Heylist
Learn more
Try Carta Launch
Issue equity and SAFEs, track ownership, and manage your cap table with Carta's free platform for early-stage founders.
Learn more
Valuations
409A valuation
ASC 820
Fair market value (FMV)
Recent VC vintages struggle with a dip in TVPI—and with how to value their investments
View more
Compensation planning
Author:
Josh Steinfeld
Date:
June 2025
featured article
Compensation philosophy
A good compensation philosophy outlines your strategy to attract, retain, and reward talent. It can help you hire affordably, competitively, and fairly.
Compensation
June 2025
Salary benchmarking for startups
Learn how salary benchmarking helps startups attract and retain talent, and how to benchmark compensation for your employees. Discover best practices and data-driven compensation tools.
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Compensation
February 2024
Salary bands
Creating a structure for how much a company pays employees within a job level is a big part of compensation strategy and plays an important role in attracting and retaining top talent.
View
Educational Essentials
April 2024
Stock options
Learn about the different types of stock options companies use to compensate employees: incentive stock options (ISO) and non-qualified stock options (NSO).
View
Explore the Compensation Collection
Latest articles
Equity Education
July 2025
Non-qualified stock options (NSO)
Non-qualified stock options (NSOs) are a type of equity compensation that does not qualify for favorable tax treatment. Learn about NSOs and how they work.
View
Founder Education
July 2025
Share dilution
Share dilution is the reduction in an existing shareholder’s ownership percentage after a fundraising round. Learn how to prepare your startup for dilution.
View
Equity Education
July 2025
Strike price
Wondering what determines strike prices and how much your stock options could be worth? Learn about what a strike price is and how options can gain value over time.
View
Product Education
June 2025
Building for private capital: Product principles that power Carta
Our product principles keep us bold, focused, and solving real-world problems. Here's what guides us and how we craft software for the unique world of private capital.
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Educational Essentials
June 2025
Advisory shares
Learn what advisory shares are, how they work for early-stage companies, and how to start issuing equity to your advisors with this comprehensive guide.
View
Equity Education
June 2025
Preferred stock vs. common stock
Common stock and preferred stock offer different benefits to shareholders. Learn about the differences between common shares vs preferred shares in this article.
View
Carta
June 2025
Schedule K-1 tax form
A Schedule K-1s is a key tax document used by LLCs and other pass-through entities. In this article, we cover important due dates, filing information, and what to include in a Schedule K-1 form.
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Data & Research
May 2025
What are the most common structures for portfolio company equity in PE?
Equity vesting schedules vary widely in PE-backed companies based on structure. Learn how corporations and LLCs approach equity grants, cliffs, and timelines.
View
Data & Research
April 2025
2025 PE Executive Equity Report
Data from more than 1,500 corporations and 500 LLCs that are backed by private equity firms sheds new light on how equity compensation works within the multitrillion-dollar industry.
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View more