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🌍 US & Europe · Cap table & fundingOption pool shuffle
Also called: pool top-up, pool expansion
In one line
Creating or topping up the option pool out of the pre-money valuation, so existing shareholders bear the dilution rather than new investors.
In plain English
Investors often require a bigger option pool before a round, carved from the pre-money. The effect is that founders and employees absorb that dilution, not the incoming investors.
If you were explaining it to a 5-year-old
Before new friends join, the club is told to set aside extra chocolate for future helpers — and that extra comes out of the current kids' share, not the newcomers'.
Why it matters when you sell
The shuffle quietly dilutes existing holders more than the headline round implies, affecting your true post-round ownership.
Related terms
Put it to use
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Sources
A general market-practice term. See how we define and source the glossary in our methodology. General information, not advice.
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