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Company Profile

Think of the Company Profile as your startup’s “Identity Card”. It tells StartupMode & your team members, who you are, where you are based, and how your company’s ownership is divided up.

Why do I need to fill this out? We use this information to automatically generate legal documents (like offer letters and stock option grants) and to show your team the correct value of their work.

1. Company Identity

This is the public face of your startup.

Why do we ask for this?

  • Legal Name: Required for any contract or invoice to be valid.
  • Incorporation Date: Used to calculate company age and vesting start dates.
  • Address: Needed for tax forms and official notices.

What to fill in:

  • Legal Name: The official name on your registration papers (e.g., Acme Labs, Inc. or Acme LLC).
  • Country: Where you are legally registered (e.g., Delaware, USA).
  • Tax ID / EIN: Your company’s unique government number. (Optional for now, but needed before you hire anyone).

2. The Equity “Pie” (Shares)

This is the most important part for your team. It defines the “Total Pie” of your company so you can slice it up for yourself, investors, and employees.

What to fill in:

  • Total Authorized Shares: Think of this as the total number of slices in your pizza.
    • Standard for Startups: 10,000,000 (10 Million). This gives you enough “small slices” to give to early employees.
  • ESOP Pool (%): The size of the slice reserved for your team (Employee Stock Ownership Plan).
    • Standard: 10% - 20%. This is the “hiring budget” for equity.
  • Current Valuation: What is your company worth right now?
    • Pre-funding: You can put a nominal value (e.g., $100,000) or leave it blank.
    • Funded: Put your last post-money valuation.

Why does StartupMode need this?

When you give a team member 0.5% equity, StartupMode needs to know “0.5% of what?”. We use the Total Shares to calculate their exact number of options.

3. Legitimacy & Value

4. Understanding Your ESOP Plan

This section defines the rules for how equity is distributed to your team.

What is an ESOP Plan?

In the context of most startups, an Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) (sometimes called an Equity Incentive Plan) is a legal framework that allows you to grant employees the option to buy shares in the company. It sets the ground rules, like how many shares are available and when employees actually “earn” (vest) them.

  • Plan Name: Give your equity plan a clear name (e.g., 2026 Global Stock Incentive Plan). This name will appear on all legal grants and offer letters.
  • Effective Date: The date when this plan officially starts. This is usually the date your Board of Directors approves the pool.

Why do I need a Plan Name?

It distinguishes this specific pool of shares from future pools. As your company grows, you might have multiple plans (e.g., a “2024 Plan” and later a “2028 Plan”).

5. Critical Notifications & Updates

Because the Company Profile sets the value of everyone’s equity, any changes here are impactful.

What happens if I edit this page?

If a Super Admin or Founder changes the “Total Authorized Shares”, “ESOP Pool Size”, or “Current Valuation”:

  1. System-Wide Alert: All Admin and Member users will receive a prioritized notification.
  2. Value Recalculation: Everyone’s dashboard will update to show the new value of their holdings.

6. Transparency & Privacy

When you invite team members, they will see a simplified version of this data on their dashboard.

  • They WILL see: The company name, their own shares, and the current share price (based on valuation).
  • They WILL NOT see: Your tax ID, banking info, or the full cap table (unless you make them an Admin).