# How much does a founder keep under a speedstrap path versus a VC path?

There is no fixed ownership percentage for either path: the result depends on every SAFE, priced round, option-pool change, and exit term. Compare both the percentage retained and the cash left for common shareholders after debt and preferences.

## The book’s comparison is an illustration

Chapter 5 models one company with **$191 million of equity raised and 13% founder ownership**, versus a speedstrap scenario with **$2.1 million of equity, $3 million of non-dilutive funding, and 60% founder ownership**. Those are constructed scenarios, not a forecast or market median. The chapter’s complete model includes an option pool and exit preferences; these percentages cannot substitute for a real cap table.

For observed ownership patterns, the chapter cites [Carta’s founder-ownership data](https://go.speedstrapping.com/carta-founder-ownership). A benchmark describes a population; it does not determine the outcome of your financing. For definitions and cap-table components, see [Carta’s cap-table guide](https://go.speedstrapping.com/carta-cap-table).

## Worked example: isolate the dilution

**Simplified illustration, not the book’s full exit model.** Start with founders owning 80%. Three rounds, each selling 20% of the post-round company, leave 80% × 0.8 × 0.8 × 0.8 = **40.96%**. One such round instead leaves **64%**. This calculation excludes SAFEs, pool refreshes, preferences, debt, taxes, and transaction costs.

At an assumed $50 million of distributable common equity value, those stakes correspond to $20.48 million and $32 million for the founder group, before tax. That is not the same as assuming a $50 million enterprise sale yields those amounts: obligations may reduce the equity available.

## Compare complete paths

Model the cash required to reach customers, alternative financing costs, dilution, and exit waterfalls together. A smaller ownership percentage can still be worth more if the equity genuinely changes the business; a larger percentage does not repay debt or make an unviable company valuable.

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This page is an original summary of an argument developed in *Speedstrap*, not an extract from the book.

From Chapter 5 of *Speedstrap*. [Find the book on Amazon](https://go.speedstrapping.com/book).

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