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For startups, cap table mismanagement can derail funding rounds or trigger legal nightmares—yet traditional solutions often involve expensive SaaS platforms or error-prone spreadsheets. Enter Captan, an open-source CLI tool that reimagines equity management through developer-centric simplicity. Built on Node.js 20+, it reduces ownership tracking to a version-controlled captable.json file, turning complex financial operations into executable commands.

Why JSON and Git Beat Spreadsheets

Captan’s architecture is deliberately minimalist: zero databases, no cloud dependencies. By leveraging Git for history tracking and JSON for structured data, it ensures:
- Transparency: Every equity transaction is auditable via captan log, with timestamps and action types.
- Portability: Cap tables move with your codebase, simplifying due diligence.
- Accuracy: Real-time calculations for outstanding shares (issued equity + vested options) and fully diluted ownership (including unvested grants).

# Initialize a new cap table with founders and option pool
captan init --name "Acme, Inc." --authorized 10000000 \
  --founder "Alice:[email protected]:5000000" \
  --founder "Bob:[email protected]:3000000" \
  --pool-pct 20

Core Features for Technical Teams

1. SAFE Investment Handling

Captan automates the most error-prone aspect of early-stage finance: converting SAFEs (Simple Agreements for Future Equity). Its safe convert command simulates scenarios based on pre-money valuations, discounts, and caps before executing permanent conversions:

# Preview SAFE conversion impact without commitment
captan safe convert --pre-money 10000000 --pps 2.00 --dry-run

2. Vesting Schedules & Equity Issuance

Customize vesting cliffs or skip them entirely. Option grants automatically factor into dilution reports:

# Grant options with a 6-month cliff
captan grant add --stakeholder [email protected] --qty 200000 \
  --exercise 0.10 --vesting-months 36 --cliff-months 6

3. Enterprise-Grade Validation

Built-in JSON Schema (captable.schema.json) enables IDE autocompletion and validation. The captan validate --extended command checks:
- Cross-referenced stakeholder IDs
- Share issuance limits against authorized stock
- Date sequencing and SAFE term consistency

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The Developer Experience Advantage

Unlike monolithic platforms, Captan thrives in CI/CD pipelines. Export reports to CSV/JSON for investor updates or legal reviews, and use the audit log to trace historical changes. Its modular structure—separating services (business logic), models (Zod-validated data), and store (file persistence)—invites customization. For instance:
- Startup DevOps: Trigger captan validate in pre-commit hooks to prevent cap table errors.
- Integration Flexibility: Pipe captan report ownership --format json into internal dashboards.

Why This Matters Now

As startup formation accelerates globally, transparent cap tables prevent dilution disputes and build investor trust. Captan democratizes this by eliminating per-seat licensing fees and prioritizing technical rigor—a stark contrast to black-box SaaS tools. With features like IDE autocomplete for JSON schemas and dry-run SAFE simulations, it empowers engineers to own financial operations without becoming finance experts.

For founders neck-deep in code, Captan offers more than convenience: it’s a declaration that equity management should be as agile and open as the software it supports. As one contributor notes, “Stop wrestling with spreadsheets—your cap table belongs in version control.”

Source: Captan GitHub Repository