Startup Equity Game Teaches Founders Funding to IPO
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- Ilia Baranov launched a free 9-stage interactive game on Hacker News, built with Claude, that simulates the full startup journey from founding shares through IPO waterfall analysis
- Players learn core equity mechanics: founding shares issued at par value, the 30-day 83(b) election filing window, post-money SAFEs, 409A valuations, 4-year vesting with 1-year cliffs, and Series A/B/C dilution
- The game illustrates how option pool refreshes are carved from founders' shares (not investors') and how down rounds — when Series A valuation falls below the SAFE cap — trigger anti-dilution clauses and concentrated founder dilution
- It draws on concepts from David Weekly's An Introduction to Stock & Options and links to Y Combinator's seed fundraising guides, standard deal documents, and startup library as follow-up reading
- Players actively adjust founder equity splits, set valuation caps and discount rates, allocate option grants to a mock team, and watch each dilution check and stakeholder payout update in real time
- The closing recommendation urges players to apply to Y Combinator, calling it "the single best launchpad for early-stage startups"
Why it matters: First-time founders routinely misjudge equity mechanics — missing the 30-day 83(b) filing window can trigger ordinary-income tax on millions in vested shares, and post-money SAFE stacking concentrates dilution on founders rather than spreading it. By turning these traps into interactive scenarios (valuation cap → Series A → down round), the game surfaces founder-unfriendly mechanics like pre-investor option pool refreshes that most pitch decks never mention.
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