Small Teams Can Build Startup Exit Proceeds Calculators

Your share can be different when the company is sold

Expert360, an Australian online service that connects businesses with specialist professionals, was acquired by Swipejobs in September 2026. Co-founder Bridget Loudon-Harris announced the acquisition herself.

The reported deal value was about A$16 million, or roughly KRW 15.6 billion at the exchange rate at the time. But Loudon-Harris said that figure was not accurate, so it should not be treated as the confirmed price. A shareholder notice reviewed by Capital Brief stated that only the later investors’ Series C and C1 preferred shares would receive consideration, while the founders holding only common shares had a distribution rate of 0.00%.

Preferred shares are shares that can receive money before other shares when a company is wound up or sold under terms set out in an agreement. Expert360 was reported to have raised about KRW 29.2 billion. If the sale price does not exceed investors’ liquidation preferences—the amount they are entitled to recover first—and costs by enough, no money remains for the common shares held by founders and employees.

This is not an unusual issue in Korea either. According to the Korean Venture Capital Association, an industry association, preferred-share investments accounted for about 67% of KRW 6.6315 trillion in new venture investment in 2024, or KRW 4.4436 trillion. Company or equity sales were the largest exit method that year, accounting for 54.4%.

One contract phrase can substantially change the result. Suppose an investor puts in KRW 3 billion for 25% of a company, and the company sells for KRW 8 billion. If the terms let the investor receive only its KRW 3 billion principal first, its share is KRW 3 billion. If the investor receives that amount first and also participates in the remaining proceeds at 25%, its share becomes KRW 4.25 billion.

The Glide calculator is free. Eqvista offers a free cap table—a record of shareholders and their holdings—for companies with fewer than 20 stakeholders, while paid features start at US$2 per person per month, or about KRW 2,700. Even a small company can change a sale price and contract terms during a meeting and compare the outcomes.

What changes at a company with 12 employees

Consider a hypothetical business software company with 12 employees and three investors. Its chief executive has raised money three times and granted stock options—the right to buy company shares at a pre-set price—to six employees.

The company’s information is currently spread across four places. Its shareholders and share counts are in a spreadsheet. The money investors receive first is in investment agreements. Each employee’s option count and employment period are in separate documents. Its debt and sale costs must be provided again by the accounting manager.

When an acquisition offer arrives, the chief executive sends these figures to a law firm and accounting manager, then re-enters the same information several times. Missing one word in a contract, such as “1x” or “participating,” changes the result. Employees may be told only the total sale price, and it is difficult to explain their actual expected proceeds until shortly before the deal closes.

A new service could first ask for each funding round’s investment amount, preference multiple, whether the investor participates in remaining proceeds after receiving its preference, and the order among investors. It could then collect debt, transaction costs, each employee’s option count, and the number of options that have vested, meaning options the employee has earned the right to exercise. The product would explain each item as it is entered, rather than requiring users to understand an entire contract at once.

When the chief executive enters an expected sale price of KRW 10 billion, the screen shows how much goes, in order, to debt and costs, later investors, early investors, founders, and employees. Change the price to KRW 7 billion or KRW 15 billion, and it immediately shows the point at which money begins to remain for common shares. This is a screen for viewing amounts people could actually receive, rather than simple ownership percentages.

It can also be used when raising a new round. The chief executive can enter an investor’s proposed terms and compare how the proceeds for existing shareholders and employees change if the company sells for KRW 10 billion, KRW 30 billion, or KRW 50 billion. This can reduce the chance of discovering an unfavorable term only years after signing.

Employees would see only their own option count, the price they must pay to buy the shares, their vested amount, and estimated pre-tax proceeds. The full company cap table and other employees’ compensation would remain hidden. It can correct, before someone joins, the misunderstanding that “if the company sells for KRW 10 billion, I receive my ownership percentage of that amount.”

Some work still needs human judgment. In Korea, the payment path can differ depending on whether a sale of the whole company is treated as a liquidation under an investment agreement, a share sale, or a merger. A service can compare possible amounts, but lawyers and tax professionals must make the final judgment on contractual effect and taxes.

In other countries, products handle work from calculation to operations

Eqvista in the United States helps small companies start with a free cap table and then calculate funding rounds and exit proceeds. It is free for companies with fewer than 20 stakeholders, and paid features start at about KRW 2,700 per person per month. In a public example, multiple preferred share classes with different multiples had total invested principal of US$6.5 million. When the sale proceeds were US$10 million, all proceeds went to preferred shares, leaving nothing for common shares or options.

Carta in the United States also offers subscription-based cap table management and exit scenario calculations for startups and investors. It does not publish exact prices and instead provides company-specific quotes. In a public educational example, it explains that when a company with US$1 million in preferred investment sells for US$500,000, the investor receives all of the proceeds and the founders’ common shares receive US$0.

India’s Qapita goes one step beyond calculation to operate employee option exercises and cash-outs. Companies and employees can check exercise amounts and tax effects, then handle applications, electronic signatures, share transfers, and settlement in one place. It does not publish fees and sets them per company.

In Qapita’s published The Souled Store example, system setup took less than two days, and the employee cash-out event was completed within three days of setup. The total payout and participant count were not disclosed, so the performance figures need further verification. Still, the case shows that a calculator can extend into the actual work of making payments.

Four things you could build from this

1. Investment agreement pre-check calculator

What it does: Lets users enter an investor’s proposed liquidation-preference terms in plain language and compare founder and employee proceeds at different sale prices.

Who uses it: The chief executive of a company with fewer than 10 employees that is about to receive its first institutional investment agreement.

Why now: Free or low-cost monthly calculation tools make it possible to test even a single small deal at multiple prices.

First screen: Four fields for investment amount, liquidation-preference multiple, whether the investor participates in remaining proceeds, and investor order.

2. Exit negotiation proceeds dashboard

What it does: Subtracts debt and costs from an acquisition offer price and shows estimated proceeds for each shareholder in sequence.

Who uses it: A startup chief executive and finance manager who have raised three or more rounds and received their first acquisition offer.

Why now: They do not need an outside specialist to rebuild a spreadsheet every time the sale price changes.

First screen: A slider for sale price alongside estimated proceeds for founders, investors, and employees.

3. Employee option statement

What it does: Explains, for each employee, the conditions under which their options may remain in place, be settled in cash, or lapse in a sale, along with estimated proceeds.

Who uses it: An employee in their second year who received 1,000 options but does not understand the agreement.

Why now: The company can show each person only the calculation they need without disclosing its full shareholder information.

First screen: Four figures: grant quantity, vested quantity, exercise price, and expected sale price.

4. Employee equity cash-out operations tool

What it does: Manages applications, approvals, signatures, and payment status for an event in which a company buys back some employee shares or options.

Who uses it: A growth-stage company planning to give 30 employees a partial cash-out opportunity alongside a fundraising round.

Why now: Overseas cases have connected calculation, documents, and settlement within days.

First screen: Total buyback budget, eligible participants, individual limit, and application deadline.

Today, check this with one person

Ask the chief executive of a recently funded company for 30 minutes. Using a redacted agreement, ask them to find the investment amount, liquidation-preference multiple, participation in remaining proceeds, and investor order. If they cannot find two or more of those four items within 10 minutes, or cannot estimate their own proceeds in a KRW 10 billion or KRW 30 billion sale, it may be worth testing a first product that combines explanation and calculation.

Why this matters where you are

Check whether investment agreements in your market use terms that determine who receives sale proceeds first and whether employees can understand their own option outcomes. The legal treatment of a company sale, taxes, and payment processes may differ from Korea. You can still test whether a simple input flow and sale-price scenarios help people identify terms they cannot currently explain.