Cake Equity

After a glorious sunset afterparty on day 1, we enjoyed seeing a good sized crowd for a stretch and a surf to kick off day 2 of Investfest. It was lovely chatting with Robyn Stonefield, Michelle Cochrane, Kenan Arif Babette Coutanche, Sav Pushparajah, Caleigh Stallybrass, Georgia Wyllie and Nathan Challen about founders, finance and fruit slices. Special thanks to Kenji Shimada for the additional footage! Team Cake: Callum Davidson, Elise Peate, Nick Cust, Kim H., Teala Stephens

Investfest kicked off yesterday, with Cohort Innovation Space putting on a lush afterparty at La Luna Beach club. It's always fantastic and fascinating seeing the Gold Coast startup community grow and hit bigger and bigger goals, and it was fantastic to catch up for some sunset hangs. Was great to see you Dren Xërxa, Audun Fiskerud, Kenji Shimada, Wade Foxx 👱, Gregg Thatcher, Andrew Antonopoulos, Ben Howe, Anthony Vago, James Skinner. As well as Kenan Arif, Scott Goulter, Michelle Picoto, Baden U'Ren, Sean Braybrook, Divine Aaron and Robyn Stonefield. Cake team: Callum Davidson Teala Stephens

Hear me out - if equity has a life cycle, then its butterfly stage is liquidity. But liquidity is in a state of flux, with new trends and stages happening in the startup world all the time, especially as funding and market conditions change. That's meant companies and employees are taking new angles to help their teams take part in the rewards of their success. We recently had the chance to sit down with equity expert Georgina Lai to ask what trends she had seen. Lawyers, VCs... what are you seeing? 🍰

Have you really met someone while they're still in close toed shoes? Come let the dogs out before Cohort Innovation Space #Investfest with our always popular Yoga & Surf event. There's surf. There's yoga. There's networking. Either way, you'll leave with more than you came with. Check out the full details via the link below, and we'll see you there! Callum Davidson Kim H. Teala Stephens 🤙

TLDR: Cake can generate QSBS attestation letters. The long form: if you missed our last product update (and how dare you), we've added Qualified Small Business Stock attestation letters as one of our recent updates. That's important, as the BBB update created some new favourable conditions for these stocks. You should still get professional advice if needed, and time your issuances accordingly. But Cake is here to help. Garrison G. has more details below. 🍰 product team: Nick Cust, Aaron Blakemore, Ines Gvozdich 🏳️🌈 and more

Alright, we think we've properly recovered now. *throat clear* Let's reflect, shall we? Three weeks, three cities, and countless conversations later, Tech Week across New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles reminded us just how much energy, creativity and resilience are alive in the startup world right now. Note that we we didn't say VC cash just then. From dawn surf meetups in Venice Beach and Oceanside to rooftop panels in SF and high rise conversations in NY, one thing was clear: founders are hungry to build, connect and learn, and once again community is everything. It's why we keep coming back. Across every city, we heard recurring themes: • Founders are adapting fast to new funding realities • AI is levelling the creative playing field, but humanity still matters • Equity education remains the biggest gap for teams and early employees So there's challenges ahead, but we're up to them. We couldn’t have done it without our incredible partners and co-hosts: Perkins Coie Silicon Valley Bank This Week in Fintech Rillet Armanino TriNet Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Voice Capital Progression Inc. TenOneTen Ventures Stifel Bank DLA Piper Amboy Street Ventures Pilot.com Goodwin Plus too many individuals to tag... individually. The conversations, panels and people all made one thing certain, the startup pulse across the U.S. is beating strong, and we’re stoked to be part of it. Huge thanks to everyone who surfed, chatted, hooped, shared a drink, or joined a panel with us. You made these weeks unforgettable. And yes, Britt did say "Shred the gnar" in her interview. Here’s a look back at the whirlwind that was #TechWeeks NY → SF → LA. Team Cake 🍰 Callum Davidson Garrison G. Elin Frid Kim H. Elise Peate Britt de Visser Nick Cust Shannon Griffin Ben Harrison

As we always say... it's not nearly as scary once you get to know it 🍰

"I was really stressed about moving from Carta to Cake..." The Mintable founder Lauren Humphrey recently sat down with us to talk about why they switched over to Cake. As we hear time and time again, equity shouldn't be complicated. It should be a piece of...

No one will say it out loud. Whether it's out of shame, fear or misunderstanding. But the most important thing is to know that help is out there. No CFO should suffer in the sheets alone, and we won't rest until you've put your cap table issues... to bed.

How should AI shape your startup funding? We put that question among many others to Kate Coffey, Yash Varma 🧠 🚀🦄 and Chris Gillings as part of our recent AI x Funding webinar. For a goldmine of information from some of the sharpest minds in startup finance including , check out the whole recording at the link in the comments 🍰 Teala Stephens Callum Davidson