Guides
The questions LPs and founders actually ask, answered directly, with the sources attached and the date we last checked them.
How to read a startup cap table before you invest, and check the round label against the price
Before you invest, check four things on a startup's cap table: fully diluted ownership, what every SAFE and note does when it converts, how big the option pool will be and who pays for it, and whether the round label matches the price. Here's how to read each one, with current Carta and PitchBook-NVCA medians for seed and Series A.
Updated
How to verify a startup founder's background before you invest
To verify a founder's background, check each claim against sources the founder didn't write: company registries, federal and state court records, SEC filings, sanctions lists, and references the founder didn't offer. Below are the US and Israeli sources, what they cost, and where consumer-report rules mean you need the founder's consent.
Updated
What a lawyer's due diligence covers on a startup investment, and what it misses
A lawyer's due diligence on a startup investment checks that the company is properly formed, its shares were validly issued, it owns its IP and its contracts carry no hidden liability. It doesn't test whether the technology works, customers pay, the price fits the stage or the founders' story holds up. Here's where the split falls and where losses start.
Updated
Due diligence duties when an RIA or family office adviser reviews a client's direct startup deal
An investment adviser who gives a client a view on a direct startup investment owes a fiduciary duty of care. The SEC says that requires a reasonable investigation, so the advice isn't based on materially inaccurate or incomplete information. This guide covers the SEC's 2019 interpretation, what examiners have found, FINRA's benchmark, and what a defensible written record contains.
Updated
How to monitor a startup after you invest
Monitoring a startup after you invest means collecting the information you're entitled to, watching the outside signals the company won't report (hiring, departures, filings, litigation, founder activity), and deciding ahead of time what would make you act. This guide covers information rights under the NVCA model, what to read in an update, and which signals are worth tracking.
Updated
Third-party due diligence on a startup investment: when it is worth it and what it costs
Paying for outside due diligence on a startup investment makes sense when the check is big enough to matter, the open questions need skills you don't have (code, cap tables, foreign structures), and the round closes before you could learn them. Here's what the data says about diligence and returns, what each kind of provider covers, why who pays matters, and how to judge the price.
Updated
Can you use AI for startup due diligence? What it catches and what it misses
You can use AI for the first pass of startup due diligence, but keep the decision for yourself. A language model will summarize a deck, map competitors, draft questions and spot inconsistencies in minutes. It can't verify claims against primary sources, call references, read a private codebase, or tell you which of its confident sentences is wrong. Here's where the line sits and how to use it well.
Updated
How to diligence an Israeli startup as a US investor: IIA grants, Section 102 and the Delaware flip
Diligencing an Israeli startup as a US investor means checking four things a US checklist misses: which entity you're buying and whether it has flipped to Delaware, Israel Innovation Authority grants and the limits they put on moving IP abroad, the Section 102 option plan, and what the local investors on the cap table signal. Here's what each one means and what to ask for.
Updated
Startup due diligence checklist for angel investors and family offices
A seed-stage due diligence checklist covers seven areas: the entity and who owns the IP, the founders, what's built versus claimed, customers and revenue, the market including cheap alternatives, the deal terms, and legal and regulatory exposure. This guide orders them by what kills a deal most cheaply, shows how much time the data says is enough, and ends in a one-page written verdict.
Updated
IDF technology units explained: 8200, Unit 81, Talpiot and Mamram
Four Israel Defense Forces programs pick the country's strongest technical recruits, train them hard and hand them real responsibility young, and their alumni have founded a disproportionate share of Israel's technology companies. Here's what each unit does, how people get selected, what the training tells an investor, and where that signal runs out.
Updated
Israeli versus US seed pricing: what the published data shows, and what it does not
Valuation Estimator
On round size the published data is clear: Israeli rounds labelled seed are far larger than US seed rounds, because Israeli companies raise their first institutional round later and further de-risked. On valuation, the number the spread thesis turns on, there's no public Israeli series yet. This guide covers the figures that are published, why the gap exists, where it's narrowing, and what it means for a fund's entry price.
Updated
How an Israeli startup redomiciles to a Delaware C-corp
QSBS Checker
Most Israeli startups that raise from US investors flip: shareholders swap their shares for shares of a new Delaware parent, and the Israeli company becomes a subsidiary that keeps the people and the IP. This guide covers the share exchange, the Israel Tax Authority ruling and its conditions, timeline and cost, and the mistakes that make a later financing or exit harder.
Updated
QSBS for SAFE and SPV investors: how Section 1202 works when you did not buy priced stock
QSBS Checker
Qualified small business stock (QSBS) can exclude up to $15 million of gain per issuer from federal tax. Most guides assume you bought priced preferred stock directly, and seed investors usually didn't. This one covers the two ways seed money actually goes in, SAFEs and SPVs, and what each does to your holding period, your cap and your paperwork.
Updated
How SPVs work: structure, fees, and what an LP actually signs
SPV Calculator
A special purpose vehicle (SPV) is a single-deal fund: investors pool money into one entity, and that entity buys one company's stock. Here's how an SPV gets set up, who does what, what it costs, how it compares with a fund commitment and what you get after you wire.
Updated
Venture fund economics explained: 2 and 20, reserves, and 5 to 7 year terms
Fund Fee Calculator
A venture fund's economics come down to a management fee, carried interest and how long the money is locked up. Below, each term with worked numbers: what reserves are for, why a seed fund can run on a 5 to 7 year term, and how fees change the return an LP actually gets.
Updated
State of the Israeli seed spread
Data note
A regularly updated note on the gap between Israeli seed entry prices and US exit values, built from published market data with every figure sourced.
Updated
Who can invest in Olivent: accredited investor and Qualified Client rules in plain language
Fund Fee Calculator
Olivent Venture Capital is open to investors who are both accredited investors under SEC Regulation D and Qualified Clients under Rule 205-3. Here's how each test works for individuals, licensed professionals, entities and family offices, what the current dollar thresholds are, and how verification works before you subscribe.
Updated