Calculator 14 • ESOP & Founding Team Grants
Employee Option Pool & Grant Planner
Size your Seed or Series A Employee Stock Option Pool (ESOP) bottom-up from actual hire grants so you never over-allocate pre-money option pool shares at term sheet signing.
1. Pool & Cap Table Baseline
Total Pool Shares
Paper val: $2.00M
Allocated to Plan
5.65%
Unallocated Buffer
4.35%
Founding Eng #1 Value
$300,000
3,125 sh/mo (48m)
Role-by-Role Option Budget & 48-Month Vesting Schedule
| Role / Cohort | FD % | Option Shares | 1-Yr Cliff (25%) | Paper Value Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding Engineer #1 (1 hire) | 1.50% | 150,000 | 37,500 | $300,000 |
| Founding Engineers #2 & #3 (2 hires combined) | 1.50% | 150,000 | 37,500 | $300,000 |
| VP / Head of Function (1 hire) | 1.25% | 125,000 | 31,250 | $250,000 |
| Senior Product / GTM / IC Cohort | 1.40% | 140,000 | 35,000 | $280,000 |
| Remaining Unallocated Option Pool | 4.35% | 435,000 | Refresh / Next Round | $870,000 |