Startup Seed Financing Instruments Checklist

Choosing how to fund your startup’s early stages impacts everything—from ownership to future deals. This checklist breaks down the most common seed-stage financing tools, what to watch for, and how to pick what’s right. What You’ll Learn:

• How Convertible Notes work: interest, maturity, conversion triggers, valuation caps, and how they affect your dilution
• What a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) does differently—no interest, no maturity date, simpler docs, but trade-offs to consider
• The structure, pros, and complexity of using Convertible Preferred Stock (Series Seed)
• When you might raise common stock and the limitations compared to preferred or debt instruments
• Universal best practices: protecting IP, legal compliance, documenting relationships, and aligning terms with your long-term fundraising strategy