Cake

A founder's first hire left a $200K salary to join her pre-revenue startup. It wasn't the equity that convinced him. It was mission. But mission gets people in the door. Transparent equity keeps them there. You need both.

AI startups are raising at two different valuations in the same round — one price for strategic investors, another for financial. The cap table math gets wild. Model it before you sign.

Got that nagging feeling you might need to update your 409A? Most founders wait too long. A qualified third party gives you safe harbor — the IRS has to prove you wrong instead of you proving you're right. Check if you need one: cakeequity.com/tools/409a-val…

At Cake, 409A is built into the platform. Order it, track it — all in one place. Link in bio

Get it wrong and the consequences will show up later — for you and your team. Steve covers what that looks like in the full video → youtu.be/huO5GxarILo?si…

Steve Jobs was given stock options deemed "in the money." Not taxed appropriately. That one case is why every startup founder today has to get a 409A valuation. Here's what it means for you 🧵

About to sign an offer? Before you sign up, it helps to know what you're being offered. We really liked these tips from Conor Macken on what to know ahead of time

Is your biggest strength actually holding you back? Fresh out of the oven, our CEO @KimHansenYeah spoke to @glenngow1 on the Scaling CEO podcast about leadership and keeping focus. youtube.com/watch?v=JfPBHg…

🙃That is the question The Cake team learned a lot from when we expanded into the US in 2021, and there's many a lesson to be shared. Register here: hubs.la/Q03_qfpN0

Not sure who needs to hear this, but let's just say it: You're too big for spreadsheets

You DON'T need to save these dates. Because the Cake team will provide helpful updates on equity dates through the year. But in case you need a cheat sheet, here it is!

2025 was Cake's biggest year yet. But if there's one thing we know for sure, 2026 will be even bigger. We've caught our breath, we've touched grass, and now we're back on our mission of motivating startup teams. With some yoga and surfing in between of course.

Alright, grass has been touched. What's next?

@sportsnallPT Admin was on Xmas break but you can contact hello AT cakeequity.com!

I’m posting..

It feels like we got all the presents! Thanks to everyone who was kind enough to drop a review on our G2. The Cake team is super proud and excited to do even better next year! Note: We're still around if you need us 🤙

Check out the complete list of feature updates on the Cake Blog: cakeequity.com/blog

It's been a big year in the kitchen for Cake, but if you haven't been catching our product updates, we thought we'd do a big recap of some of the headline features that have come out this year. Just three of the big ones: - Warrants - 2 way comms - Stock Based Compensation

If only everything could be this simple 😌

Fact is, women are still under represented in startups, particularly in receiving VC funding. As part of our chat with @LighterCapital's @MelissaWidner, we spoke about @Apropela, her business connection initiative, and how we might begin to address the gap. @cal_davidson