Guides
Practical guides for funding, presenting and growing your business.
136 publications
Protecting Founder Equity in a Shotgun Buy-Sell Clause
Protect your startup equity from predatory buyout tactics in a shotgun clause. Discover essential safeguards like valuation floors and flexible payment terms.
How the 2025 QSBS Tax Rules Benefit Startup Founders?
New Section 1202 tax rules allow founders to exclude capital gains starting after a three-year holding period. Explore higher $15M caps and tiered exit options.
SAS vs SARL: Choosing the Best Executive Status in France
Choose between a SAS and SARL to minimize executive social charges and protect your initial cash runway. Compare salary levies, zero-pay rules, and dividends.
How to Protect Your Business from Operational Illiquidity
Protect your business from cash flow collapse by identifying working capital friction before reserves run out. Learn how to stress test runway and stay default alive.
Pennylane vs Agicap: Which Tool Protects Your Runway?
Choose Pennylane for unified accounting compliance or Agicap for complex multi-bank cash flow forecasting. Compare features and pricing to secure your runway.
How to Raise EU Retail Equity and Keep a Clean Cap Table?
Raise retail equity across the EU while protecting your cap table for future venture capital rounds. Explore ECSP rules and SPVs to avoid governance bottlenecks.
Guide to Bourse French Tech Emergence Deeptech Grants
Explore Bpifrance's Bourse French Tech Émergence for deeptech projects : eligibility, eligible expenses and a non-dilutive grant of up to 90,000 euros.
How to Price an Early-Stage Round Using VC Benchmarks?
Learn how to decode aggregate venture data to set a defensible valuation and round size. Separate mega-round distortions from early-stage fundraising realities.
Combining CIR and JEI to Maximize French R&D Incentives
Combine CIR and JEI status to lower payroll charges and recoup eligible French R&D expenses. Explore core rules, spending ratios, and social exemption limits.
Is Your Business Default Alive or Default Dead?
Find out if your business is default alive by testing your runway against real cost pressures. Learn how to audit your burn rate and protect your cash.
Regulation D vs Regulation A+: How to Choose Your Raise
Compare Regulation D and Regulation A+ to choose the right fundraising path for your speed, budget, and investor base. Review SEC rules, costs, and reporting.
SBA 504 Loans for Major Fixed Assets and Real Estate
Finance commercial real estate and heavy equipment with long-term fixed rates while preserving company equity. Learn how the dual-lender SBA 504 program works.
How to Choose Between Rule 506(b), 506(c), and Reg CF?
Choose the right seed round exemption between Rule 506(b), 506(c), and Reg CF. Balance public solicitation rules, investor verification, and disclosure costs.
Financial Modeling for Debt and Revenue-Based Financing
Build a financial model that proves debt service coverage and cash payback to win non-dilutive capital. Stress test cash reserves to pass lender underwriting.
How the Option Pool Shuffle Lowers Effective Valuation
Learn how pre-money option pools dilute founder equity and how to negotiate a fair reserve during fundraising. Use hiring models to prevent excessive dilution.
How Startups Use Section 195 and Form 6765 for Tax Savings?
Pre-revenue startups can protect cash runway using Section 195 deductions and Form 6765 credits. Learn how to deduct pre-launch costs and offset payroll taxes.
NVCA Model Legal Documents Guide for Startup Founders
Use NVCA model documents to review a US venture financing with counsel: compare economic rights, governance clauses, versions and exceptions.
Structuring Early Startup Equity and Cash Compensation
Balance early employee equity and cash pay to attract top talent without prematurely diluting your cap table. Explore benchmarks and French BSPCE rules.
Seed Voting Agreements: Preserving Founder Operational Control
Protect execution autonomy in a US seed round: board seats, investor vetoes and drag-along terms, to be validated with a lawyer.
Negotiating Tranched Financing Milestones Without Stalling Runway
How to negotiate tranched financing milestones without starving your runway: verifiable criteria, cash buffers and alternative performance paths.