EquityExplained
A plain-English equity companion that helps startup employees understand their stock option grants, model their actual payout across realistic exit scenarios, and track vesting and dilution as the company grows.
Early startup employees with stock option grants who don't fully understand what they own
- Plain-English decoder that turns legal grant docs into understandable summaries
- Exit scenario calculator modeling payout across IPO, acquisition, and down-round outcomes
- Vesting schedule visualizer with timeline and projected unlocks
- Dilution simulator showing how future funding rounds will change your stake
AI cap table tools like Clerk are making equity modeling accessible, but the millions of startup employees who got grants still don't have a consumer-friendly way to understand what they actually own.
Multiple free equity calculators and Carta's employee-facing portal indicate sustained interest, but no evidence of a paid consumer app in this niche.Free Employee Stock Option Calculator - Startup Equity ↗Carta Equity Portal: Complete Guide for Employees ↗
Company-side tools (Carta, Pulley, Ledgy, AngelList, Shareworks) dominate cap tables; few AI-driven plain-English companions exist for the employee side, but free calculators (thevccorner, founder-math, pineify) cover basic modeling.Carta vs Pulley vs AngelList: Cap Table Tools Ranked (2026) ↗Startup Option Grant Calculator: Understand the Real Value of Your ... ↗
Every direct competitor (Carta employee portal, stellaxon, founder-math, thevccorner, pineify) is free; early startup employees are price-sensitive and no clear paid-precedent was found.Free Employee Stock Options Calculator | Pineify ↗Free Employee Stock Option Calculator - Intrinsic Value, Tax & ROI ... ↗
Equity compensation is structurally embedded in startup hiring and persists across cycles; the problem remains as long as options exist.
Calculator logic is well-understood and an LLM explanation layer is buildable today, though accurate valuation/dilution tracking requires company-side data the user must input manually.