Venture Debt
A loan to a venture-backed company, typically from a specialist lender or bank, sized against the last equity round rather than against cash flow, and usually carrying warrants. It extends runway without pricing a round, and it ranks ahead of every share class if things go wrong, which is the whole of its risk.
Practise it
The same cheque written six ways: common, non-participating preferred, participating preferred with and without a cap, a SAFE still unconverted and a convertible note. Slide the exit value and watch who gets paid, in what order, and where each instrument converts.
Open Exit Waterfall Lab, free, 12 minWhere Venture Debt comes up
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