Uncover Equity Misalignments and Cap Table Risks
Rigorously audit the cap table for potential red flags, such as dead equity, over-allocated advisor pools, unaligned vesting cliffs, or missing IP assignment clauses. Highlight all potential points of friction, legal vulnerability, or investor concern caused by early advisor commitments.
Completing this action isolates critical legal, financial, and relational risks embedded in existing advisor arrangements. It provides the founder with an explicit risk register, allowing pre-emptive resolution before entering formal due diligence.
The founder must produce a risk log detailing every flagged anomaly, missing IP clause, over-allocation, or unvested equity conflict across all advisor relationships. Each identified risk must be categorised by severity and financial impact.
Five questions an expert would ask when reviewing your output
Use these to challenge assumptions, pressure-test your logic, and check the quality of this action's output in the context of the parent task and wider venture development.
- 1
Which advisor commitments present a material risk of creating dead weight on your cap table?
- 2
What legal or tax liabilities arise from granting advisor equity without formal valuation or HMRC clearance?
- 3
Where are the gaps in IP assignment clauses across all historical advisor agreements?
- 4
How would a prospective lead investor view the ratio of founder equity to advisor equity?
- 5
What friction or litigation risks exist if you attempt to renegotiate an unearned advisor grant?