Like Equity,
Learning Compounds!

Employee Equity during Down Rounds. Everything you need to know!

A down round is a financing round in which a company raises capital at a lower valuation than its previous financing round.

How to be Fundraise Ready?

This blog will be a step-by-step guide for you to understand the key points to keep in mind before you start your fundraising plan.

Warrants: A Concise Guide

A warrant is an attractive financial instrument to lure strategic investors to their company. It helps them raise capital without any upfront equity dilution.

Equity and Beyond: How can founders brave the winter by building an optimal capital stack?

Understand the various funding choices that founders have to grow their businesses.

Qapita Office Hours with The Chennai Angels

Qapita Office Hours- an opportunity to have an open, free-wheeling discussion with stakeholders from the startup ecosystem.

Why You Should Share CapTable with Your Investors (And How to do it)

Learn why sharing your CapTable with investors is crucial. Know how it helps with investor relations, startup funding, equity ownership, dilution management

What is Equity? How Startup Founders Can Leverage It

Equity represents ownership and control of a person in a company.

Raising VC funds? How to Determine the Amount

What amount to raise? The straightforward answer depends on how much resources you would require to reach the next milestone

25 Most Active Angel Investors in India

Mostly, angel investors have domain preferences some invest in the consumer segment, while others prefer healthcare or education.

What is Valuation Cap and Valuation Floor?

Learn more about Valuation cap and Valuation floor!

An Intro to Startup Valuation Methods

Valuation forms the basis for the equity exchange that takes place during the fundraise but how is it calculated?

What is a liquidation waterfall?

Liquidation waterfall is a type of scenario modeling to estimate a payout for each individual investor upon a liquidation event.

Raising Funds with Convertible Notes

Term Sheets - What you should know

The term sheet serves as a template and basis for more detailed, legally binding documents.

Convertible Notes - The Basics

A convertible note is a form of debt instrument that converts into equity, typically in conjunction with a future financing round.

25+ Venture Capitalist Firms that Invests in (Early-Stage) Startups in India

In this post, we have discussed some of the prominent VCs who invest in early and growth-stage startups in India.

Fundraising Jargon Simplified: A Glossary for Founders

In this post, we’ll discuss the basic terms which founders must know before preparing their pitch decks or going into fundraising

Types of Funding Rounds: Seed, Series A, B, C...

How various funding rounds work, and what are the similarities and differences between them?

Investor Update: Everything You Need to Know

In this blog, we have discussed how you can regularly update the investors—who are betting on you—and nurture your relations with

Things to do Before Raising Funds: How Qapita Can Help

We have compiled a list of things you can do to facilitate the funding process!

What are Accelerators?

Programmes that provide young companies with access to mentorship, funding, networking and other resources.

What other options are emerging for startups?

There are instances when VC funding may not be the best fit for your startup depending on a variety of factors.

What makes a Perfect Pitch Deck?

what exactly is a pitch deck? And more importantly, what makes a perfect pitch deck?

3 Key Things to Watch Out For in Your Term Sheet

During fundraising, various term sheets may be offered from different investors.

What are Common Stocks and Preferred Stocks?

Before issuing any shares, founders need to understand what the difference between these two equity instruments are!

How to Create a CapTable

a captable shows “who owns what” and “what proportion of the company a shareholder owns”.

How can your virtual pitch make a deep connection with potential investors?

Delivering an impactful presentation requires substantial preparation, building a rapport, and connecting on a personal level with

Term Sheets - What you should know

The term sheet serves as a template and basis for more detailed, legally binding documents.

3 Key Things to Watch Out For in Your Term Sheet

During fundraising, various term sheets may be offered from different investors.

ESOP Academy 16: Liquidity in Private Markets

How can you actually realise the value of your equity awards?

ESOP Academy 13: Employee Share Purchase Plans

Sacrificing your salary to increase your equity stake

ESOP Academy 14: Employee Equity Holders vs. Investors - What's the Difference?

Do you become an investor when you receive ESOPs?

ESOP Academy 15: Understanding Company’s Share Price, Valuations, and Dilution

In this blog, we explore how you can understand the true value of your employee equity by introducing new concepts with some oversimplified examples.

Employee ESOP Dictionary

Through this article, we will introduce common words used in the ESOP terminology for you to understand ESOPs

Why are ESOPs Gaining Traction Lately? Reasons behind their popularity

ESOPs are a great tool for founders to provide worth to their employees. Learning about ESOPs and adopting them early in your journey can be a wise decision.

Funding Winter & its Implications on Startup ESOPs

n this blog, we aim to demystify the standard in detail and also how our solution can help you with the entire spectrum of valuation and reporting obligations.

ESOP Academy 11: Understanding your ESS statement

let’s explore what plans are considered ESS, what information ESS statements contain, how they impact your tax return, and why did you receive one, and more.

ESOP Academy 12: 9 Equity Management Mistakes to Avoid as an Employee

9 mistakes employees make when managing their ESOPs

Joining a Startup? Top 8 ESOP Questions you need to ask the founder/HR.

Understand these 8 aspects in detail before you have your ESOP discussion with founders/HR before you join your next startup.

A Brief Guide to Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs)

In this blog we will try to cover what SARs are and what are its pros and cons over ESOPs.

Seriously.. What is an ESOP?

Here is a non-finance friendly introduction to ESOPs

What Can You Do with ESOP?

There are so many things you can do with ESOPs - Yet, only few have fully understood and utilized the power of ESOPs

ESOP Academy 9: Value Creation, Behavioural Finance and Risk Management

How to value your ESOPs?

Qapita: Equity Management Simplified.

Vikram, QAPITA’s Country Head, talks about Equity Management and QAPITA’s vision.

ESOP Academy Chapter 6: 17 Questions to Ask your Employer about Equity

How can you bring up ESOPs in discussions with your prospective or current employer?

ESOP Academy Chapter 4: Risks and Caveats

ESOPs sound amazing - what's the catch?

ESOP Academy Chapter 3: Types of Equity Instruments

This article reviews the common equity (and non-equity) instruments that you can expect receive as part of your ESOP award.

ESOP Academy Chapter 2: Lifecycle of Employee Equity Awards

This article will go through the entire ESOP lifecycle from start to finish to prepare you for what can be a long-term commitment.

ESOP Academy Chapter 1 - Introduction to Employee Equity

ESOP Academy is a series of articles that will lay the fundamental groundwork for understanding how employee equity works.

What is Equity? How Startup Founders Can Leverage It

Equity represents ownership and control of a person in a company.

6 Mistakes that Prevent ESOPs from Being Successful

ESOP creation and administration can create issues in talent acquisition, motivation and retention.

ESOP Taxation for Startups in India

ESOPs are liable to taxation. As a company founder, you want your employees to understand the associated legalities and taxes.

What is Valuation Cap and Valuation Floor?

Learn more about Valuation cap and Valuation floor!

ESOP Terms that Every Founder and CHRO Must Be Aware Of

In this post, you'll learn terms related to ESOP that you must be aware of.

Demystifying ESOPs for Early Stage Founders

To attract the industry’s best talent, startups have to offer huge sums of money as salaries. But how in the early stage?

The ESOP Cheatsheet

The key drivers before selecting a stock option plan are generally accounting and tax aspects.

What are Phantom Shares?

Phantom stock units are tied to the value of your company’s stock and generally vest over a set period.

ESOP Academy 10: Treatment of Equity Awards in M&A Transactions

Learn what happens with your ESOPs when your company gets acquired.

Basics of ESOPs Series 6

In this volume, we will tackle all you need to know about liquidity options.

What are Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)? How do they differ from ESOPs?

A restricted stock unit is a type of employee compensation in which employees receive company shares at a future date.

Basics of ESOPs Series 5

In this volume, we will talk about the exercise of these ESOPs.

Why are startups opting for ESOPs?

ESOP is a hiring and retention strategy that provides a competitive edge and helps create a motivated and energized workforce.

Basics of ESOPs Series 4

In this volume, we will talk about the definition of key ESOP terms that you need to be aware of.

The ESOP Buyback - Things you should know

ESOPs are widely used to attract talent. Lately, several startups announced ESOP buybacks to reward their employees.

All you need to know about ESOP

ESOPs provide employees with a stake in the company.

Basics of ESOPs Series 3

what’s the best time to create an ESOP pool and what happens when an employee leaves before the options are vested?

Basics of ESOPs Series 2

In this volume, we will tackle - How to frame an ESOP policy and how to create an ESOP pool.

Convertible Notes - The Basics

A convertible note is a form of debt instrument that converts into equity, typically in conjunction with a future financing round.

Basics of ESOPs Series 1

ESOPs or the stock options are free and granted free of cost to employees, as part of an employee’s remuneration.

Option Pool: Size of ESOP Pool at Various Startup's Stages

Discover the importance of option pools and ESOP pools at various stages of startup growth. Learn about equity compensation, stock options, and funding rounds.

Employees Compensation choices: RSU vs ESOP vs SAR

Learn about the different types of employee compensation choices. Discover how equity and performance based compensation, stock options can benefit employees.

ESPP vs ESOP: Differences Between Equity Linked Compensation Structures

In this blog, we will discuss what are the ESPP & ESOP, their pros and cons, & their key differences.

ESOP Trust in India

An ESOP Trust is specifically created and registered for the purpose of implementing ESOP Plan.

What are Common Stocks and Preferred Stocks?

Before issuing any shares, founders need to understand what the difference between these two equity instruments are!

How ESOPs benefit the employers

A successful business is built through a motivated workforce driving productivity with speed and efficiency.

Steps to Set Up ESOP in Your Startup

In this post, we've discussed how you can roll out ESOP in your company and start granting stock options and administering them.

How does an ESOP work?

A type of employee benefit plan that gives employees a stake in the company they work for.

ESOP Academy Chapter 5: Tax Considerations

This introductory article is designed to help you better understand ESOPs.

ESOP Academy 7: Understanding Equity Plan Documentation

Is there anything you can do on your own if it’s not possible to obtain all the information from your employer?

ESOP Academy 8: Employee Equity Cheat Sheet

Drafting an ESOP is easier than you think

A lot of HR Teams and leaders have an impression of ESOPs as something that is highly complex to be drafted by themselves.

Using ESOP for performance bonus

Like any other compensation & benefit elements, HR could utilize ESOP for performance bonus

Does your company need a 409A valuation?  

If you have employees in the US that you want to grant equity to, you will need 409A, even if you are a foreign company.

409A Valuation

It is a formal appraisal of the fair market value (FMV) of the common stock of a private company.

What is Valuation Cap and Valuation Floor?

Learn more about Valuation cap and Valuation floor!

An Intro to Startup Valuation Methods

Valuation forms the basis for the equity exchange that takes place during the fundraise but how is it calculated?

What is a liquidation waterfall?

Liquidation waterfall is a type of scenario modeling to estimate a payout for each individual investor upon a liquidation event.

Startup Due Diligence Checklist for Fundraising

Before giving money to a company, VCs do a thorough background check to verify that the information provided by the company is correct.

Importance of Equity Management

In this blog, we will explore the importance of equity management and the best practices for optimizing it.

Transfer of Share Rights | Tag Along and Drag Along

In this blog let’s talk about the last set of Transfer of Share Rights: Tag Along Rights and Drag Along Rights.

Transfer of Shares Rights — ROFR and ROFO

n this blog, let’s talk about a few ‘Transfer of Shares’ rights that are typically given to investors and in some cases to other shareholders too.

Transfer of Share Rights | Promoter Lock-In | You Shall Not Pass! #SHA101

Promoter Lock-in quite literally means locking-in the promoter from selling their shares to any third party.

Pre-Emptive Rights: Everyone wants to keep betting on the winning horse! #SHA101

Today, let’s talk about Pre-emptive or Pro-Rata rights.

Definitive Agreements - SSA/SHA/SPA. Because mere shaking-on a deal is not ‘definitive’ enough!

Demystifying the various terms and clauses that are part of a typical Shareholders’ Agreement (SHA).

ESOP Taxation for Startups in India

ESOPs are liable to taxation. As a company founder, you want your employees to understand the associated legalities and taxes.

Understanding IFRS 2: Valuations and Financial Reporting Guide for Startups

IFRS 2 is a set of accounting rules issued by the IASB that outlines the principls for recognising and measuring share-based payment transactions.

An Intro to Startup Valuation Methods

Valuation forms the basis for the equity exchange that takes place during the fundraise but how is it calculated?

Things to do Before Raising Funds: How Qapita Can Help

We have compiled a list of things you can do to facilitate the funding process!

Is it necessary to have a cofounder agreement?

It can be tempting to forgo drafting a cofounder agreement especially when you are friends- there's trust and no conflicts.

ESOP Trust in India

An ESOP Trust is specifically created and registered for the purpose of implementing ESOP Plan.

3 Key Things to Watch Out For in Your Term Sheet

During fundraising, various term sheets may be offered from different investors.

How to Create a CapTable

a captable shows “who owns what” and “what proportion of the company a shareholder owns”.

ESOP Academy Chapter 5: Tax Considerations

This introductory article is designed to help you better understand ESOPs.

ESOP Academy 7: Understanding Equity Plan Documentation

Is there anything you can do on your own if it’s not possible to obtain all the information from your employer?

Why are ESOPs Gaining Traction Lately? Reasons behind their popularity

ESOPs are a great tool for founders to provide worth to their employees. Learning about ESOPs and adopting them early in your journey can be a wise decision.

Orange Health, CityMall & Niyo announce Buyback Programs while Q3 sees a sharp drop in Employee Liquidity

Sharp drop in Employee Liquidity: $200+ million in Q3 2021 vs <$20 million in Q3 2022

Decoding Liquidity Programs for Private Markets with Skanda Jayaraman, CEO of Qapita Marketplace

Welcome to this special edition of Fables Of ESOP. In this we seek to deconstruct the basics of liquidity programs for you.

Why are startups opting for ESOPs?

ESOP is a hiring and retention strategy that provides a competitive edge and helps create a motivated and energized workforce.

Is it necessary to have a cofounder agreement?

It can be tempting to forgo drafting a cofounder agreement especially when you are friends- there's trust and no conflicts.

Decoding Liquidity Programs for Private Markets with Skanda Jayaraman, CEO of Qapita Marketplace

Welcome to this special edition of Fables Of ESOP. In this we seek to deconstruct the basics of liquidity programs for you.

Qapita: CapTable Management Simplified

Pallavi Nautiyal, QAPITA’s North India Head, talks about the problems caused from improper CapTable maintenance.

The Story of GRIP: How to build a compelling product in a People-First startup and get funded by your users

In this edition of Fables Of ESOP, we speak with the team from GRIP — Vivek Gulati, Co-founder and COO; Nimisha Dua VP-HR at GRIP.

Fables Of ESOP: Demystifying Stock Appreciation Rights (SAR) with Ankur Joshi from Nuclei

Why choose SARs as an instrument to reward employees?

Finance Act 2022- What’s in it for Startups?

Startups and Individuals tax payers had many expectations from the Finance Act. It was able to meet some while it missed a few.