Equity Calculator
Enter your grant details to see an estimated valuation range.
Your equity details
Six inputs. Two minutes. Detailed help under each field if you need it.
›How does this affect the calculation?
Selecting a company pre-loads everything the calculator needs: the latest known primary-round valuation, total fully-diluted shares, peer companies (used for the EV/Revenue method), recent secondary market trades, and the typical equity type that company grants.
We auto-fill the equity type below based on what your company most commonly grants — but you can override it if your specific grant differs (e.g. an early-stage cohort that received pure ISOs at a company that later switched to RSUs).
Pick the private company that issued your equity.
›Where do I find this?
Three places to check, in order of reliability:
- Your offer letter — look for "You will be granted X shares / options / RSUs subject to a vesting schedule of..."
- Your Carta dashboard (login.carta.com) — under "Portfolio" or "Holdings", find the grant and look at "Quantity" or "Awarded".
- Your equity portal at your employer (Shareworks, Solium, EquityZen, etc.) — usually shown as "Total granted" or "Grant size".
If you have multiple grants (initial + refreshes), either sum them up here, or run the calculator once per grant and add the results.
The total size of your grant — not just what's vested today.
Incentive Stock Options give you the right — but not the obligation — to buy shares at a fixed 'strike price' that was set when your grant was issued. Often the most valuable equity type if your company grows substantially.
Bargain element: the spread (current value − strike) at exercise is an AMT preference item, so you may owe Alternative Minimum Tax even if you can't sell. Hold the shares >1 year after exercise AND >2 years after grant to get long-term capital gains treatment on the entire gain.
Critical: you must exercise within 90 days of leaving the company (default) or you forfeit unexercised ISOs. Some companies offer extended windows (5–10 years) — worth negotiating.
SpaceX grants typically: ISO/NSO
The kind of award your company gave you. Different types are taxed differently.
›What is a strike price, and where do I find mine?
The strike price (also called "exercise price") is the fixed price per share you'd pay if you choose to exercise an option. It was set on the day your grant was issued, based on a "409A" appraisal — an independent fair-value assessment your employer is legally required to obtain.
Find your strike price:
- Your offer letter, usually labelled "Exercise price" or "Strike price"
- Carta → your grant → "Strike price"
- Your grant agreement PDF — ask HR / People Ops if you don't have it
Why this matters: the gap between today's fair value and your strike price is your "spread" — the per-share gain you could realise on exercise (before tax). If you joined years ago when the 409A was much lower than today, this is the most important number on this page.
Typical for SpaceX: $110–$135 (2024 cohort), $175–$215 (2025 cohort)
›Hire date vs. grant date — which one?
For your initial grant, the vesting start date is almost always your hire date. The 1-year cliff (if any) is measured from that date.
For refresh grants issued later in your tenure, vesting starts on the grant date — not your original hire date. Run the calculator once per grant in that case.
Where to find it: your offer letter specifies "Vesting commencement date". Carta also shows it under each grant.
When your vesting clock started — usually your hire date.
›What is a 'cliff' and why does it exist?
A cliff is a minimum time you must work before any of your equity vests. The most common is a 1-year cliff: if you leave before 12 months, you forfeit your entire grant. On day 365, a full year of vesting (typically 25% of the grant) unlocks in one chunk. After that, vesting usually continues monthly.
Why companies use it: protects them from giving equity to short-tenure employees. From your side, the cliff is the highest-risk part of your grant — if you'd considered leaving, time it after the cliff anniversary.
Acceleration: some senior offers include "single-trigger" or "double-trigger" acceleration that vests remaining equity if the company is acquired or you're fired without cause. Check your grant agreement.
How your grant unlocks over time.