ThemeGovernance, Legal & Risk
CardCard 41 of 66
Questions5 to explore

Ownership

People who control or owns the organization

Who owns the organization, and how that ownership works, is the kind of foundational information that should never have to be reconstructed from memory.

Ownership structures can be surprisingly opaque, even inside the organization itself. In early-stage companies, shares may have been allocated informally, option pools may not be fully documented, and side agreements between founders may exist that not all parties fully remember. Cleaning that up is easier before it matters than during a due diligence process or a shareholder dispute.

A clear ownership register covers who holds shares or membership interests, in what class and proportion, and under what terms. It also covers any rights attached to those shares: voting rights, preferential dividends, anti-dilution protections, drag-along or tag-along clauses. These details live in legal documents but should be summarized somewhere a non-lawyer can read.

Ownership also changes over time through funding rounds, employee option vesting, transfers, and buyouts. Keeping the record current is an ongoing task, not a one-time exercise.

What to capture

For this part of the company brain, what is worth writing down and keeping current. The goal is not a complete archive but a living record that new people can read and returning people can trust.

Cap table

The current ownership structure: who holds what, in which share class, at what percentage, and under what terms.

Shareholder agreements

The key provisions in any shareholder agreement, including voting rights, transfer restrictions, and any protective rights held by specific parties.

Option & equity plans

Any employee stock option plans or other equity incentive arrangements, including the vesting schedule, strike price, and how much of the pool is allocated versus unallocated.

Ownership history

A record of how the ownership structure has changed over time, including funding rounds, transfers, and any equity issued as compensation.

Questions to explore

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

Can you produce an accurate cap table today that shows every shareholder and their stake?
Are there any verbal or informal ownership understandings that have not been formalized in documents?
Do all shareholders understand the rights and restrictions that come with their shares?
How does ownership change if the company raises its next round of funding?
Is there an option pool, and do the people who have been granted options understand their vesting terms?

Things to notice

Founding-team equity splits that were agreed early but never formally documented in a shareholders' agreement become very difficult to resolve if the founding team later disagrees about what was decided.
Options that vest on paper but are never formally tracked can create surprises: employees who left years ago may still have valid claims on shares if the paperwork was not handled properly.
Ownership documents in a single founder's personal files rather than the company's central records create a fragile single point of failure.