Foundersbase Blog
Practical, founder-tested guides on co-founder matching, early teams, equity and getting startups off the ground.
How to run customer discovery interviews that reveal real problems: who to talk to, what to ask, the mistakes that fake validation, and how to act on it.
Anna Martin
July 26, 2026 · 4 min read
What a cap table is, how startup ownership and dilution work across rounds, how option pools and SAFEs affect it, and how to keep a clean cap table from day one.
What a convertible note is, how it works, the discount and valuation cap explained, and how convertible notes compare to SAFEs for early-stage startup fundraising.
How to bootstrap a startup: fund growth from revenue, stay default alive, decide when bootstrapping beats raising, and the trade-offs of keeping full ownership.
How to calculate runway and burn rate, what 'default alive' means, when to start raising, and the levers founders use to extend runway before the money runs out.
What a SAFE is, how valuation caps and discounts work, post-money vs pre-money, SAFEs vs convertible notes, and how dilution sneaks up on early founders.
When to make your first startup hire, who to hire first, how to attract talent without a big salary, and the offer and onboarding that set an early team up to win.
A founder's guide to go-to-market: defining your ideal customer, choosing a motion and channel, nailing positioning, and avoiding the spread-too-thin GTM trap.
What startup vesting and the one-year cliff mean, why every founder and early hire needs them, standard schedules, and the acceleration terms worth understanding.
Where the first customers really come from, why unscalable tactics win early, and a channel-by-channel playbook for getting a startup's first 100 customers.
How startup stock options work for early employees: option pools, strike price, vesting, exercising, and what an offer of equity is actually worth before you accept.
What product-market fit really means, the signals that prove you have it, how to measure it, and what to do before you have it — a practical founder's guide.
When to incorporate a startup, how to choose between an LLC and a C-corp, why investors expect Delaware C-corps, and the founder paperwork to get right early.