Bootstrapped vs VC Exit Calculator

These percentages represent the combined ownership of the entire founding team (all co-founders together), not a single individual. They are median values from Carta's 2024-2025 data across thousands of startups. Your actual ownership will vary based on how many co-founders you have, the terms of each round, and how much you raise.

No. This is a simplified model that assumes a straight equity split at exit (common stock converted at face value). In reality, investors with liquidation preferences get paid back first, which means founding team take-home can be significantly lower in modest exits. The gap between bootstrapped and funded outcomes is often larger than shown here.

If you are a solo founder, the full founding team percentage belongs to you. If you have co-founders, you would split the founding team ownership among yourselves. For example, two equal co-founders after a Series A would each hold roughly 18% individually (36.1% split two ways).

Yes. Enter your current founding-team ownership in the calculator and it adds a personalized bar alongside the Carta medians, showing your actual take-home at the selected exit value. This is useful if you have already sold equity through a SAFE or priced round and want to model your real outcome.