Venture Capital
Common Stock vs Preferred Stock: The Liquidation Waterfall That Wipes Out Founders (With Real Math)
Common Stock vs Preferred Stock: The Liquidation Waterfall That Wipes Out Founders (With Real Math) A founder I know owned 45% of his company on paper. The acquirer paid $25 million — exactly what investors had put in...
Jeff Barnes, MBA··10 min read
Angel Investing
Common Stock vs Preferred Stock: What Angel Investors and LPs Actually Own
Common vs Preferred Stock: What Investors Actually Own In a startup financing, founders and employees hold common stock while investors hold preferred stock — two different securities with radically d
Jeff Barnes, MBA··12 min read
Venture Capital
Liquidation Preference: The Term Sheet Clause That Decides Who Gets Paid
According to Cooley LLP's Q2 2025 Venture Financing Report , covering 238 venture financings, 98 percent of deals carried a 1x liquidation preference and 95 percent used non-participating preferred st
Jeff Barnes, MBA··6 min read