Session One – Rise of (and Issues Surrounding) SAFEs

Are you considering starting a company or investing as Angel or Friends and Family? Does your firm invest in Series A? Join us!

Established a few years ago by Y Combinator, Simple Agreement for Future Equity/SAFE contracts have become fairly standard for Angel and pre-Series A fund-raising, often replacing Convertible Notes. This session will go beyond explaining the concept and the flavors (eg pre-money vs post-money) into what the implications are for the various parties and controversies that arise. The discussion will feature HBS Prof Shai Bernstein, who teaches the Entrepreneurial Finance class (after 8 years at GSB), Mike Monovoukas MBA 2017, CEO of AcuityMD (who used a SAFE prior to raising a Series A with Benchmark and Ajax) and Mark Fitzgerald, Partner at Wilson Sonsini.

Future VRTs planned for the Series include Venture Debt and Recent Trends in Terms for High Valuation Late Stage Rounds