Ask HN: How does a cash acquistion with SAFEs work?

7 pointsfunnywalrus1y ago3 comments

I hope this doesn't come across as too stupid of a question. There is so much insight for more complex situations, but nothing I saw that clearly explained this simple situation. Want to make sure I'm not over/under thinking this.

Let's say a simple LLC business has two standard post-money SAFEs....

- Investor A contributed $40,000 at a post-money valuation cap of $400,000

- Investor B contributed $50,000 at a post-money valuation cap of $800,000

- There are no other investors

Questions: If the business is fully sold for $600,000 all cash, does Investor B still receive 6.25% of the acquisition cash even if the sale is under their valuation cap?

3 comments

nivertech1y ago

Standard YC SAFE is for corporations (C Coprs), not for LLCs, as LLCs don't have shares to convert to, only membership units.

While there are SAFEs for LLCs, I don't get their purpose.

Maybe they can be useful for bootsrapping Micro-SaaS or lifestyle businesses.

https://jmdorsey.com/safe-for-llcs/

https://mccarthylg.com/can-an-llc-use-a-safe/

hehehheh1y ago

I guess:

A gets $60000 which is 10% due to cap.

B is below cap so gets $50k worth of shares in the pile of cash. Or $50k if you like.

ipaddr1y ago

Check the terms: it becomes debit or prorated shares

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse