Option Pool Template for B2B SaaS Founders (Swipe File)
last updated: Mar 26, 2026
Staring at a blank spreadsheet wondering how much equity to carve out for your first hires? Grab this prebuilt option pool template to map out your initial equity grants without wrecking your cap table. Here is the short version before you dive into the numbers.
TL;DR
- Benchmark: Target a starting pool of 10-15% of your total outstanding stock for the seed stage.
- Rule: Always enforce a 1-year cliff on all equity grants to protect the business from early departures.
- Warning: Handing out equity without a clear cash compensation philosophy will lead to dead equity sitting on your cap table.
Glossary
- Option pool: A block of company equity reserved specifically for future hires and advisors.
- Strike price: The fixed cost an employee pays to exercise their options, usually determined by a 409A valuation.
- Vesting schedule: The timeline over which an employee earns the right to own their shares. Standard startup practice dictates a 4-year vest with a 1-year cliff.
- MRR: Monthly Recurring Revenue, the predictable total revenue generated by your active subscriptions each month.
How to use this option pool template
Copy the CSV code block below. Paste it into a text file, save it as a .csv, and open it in Google Sheets or Excel to start planning your equity distribution. Be sure to overwrite the placeholders with your own data. You can also review my cap table template for B2B to see exactly how this fits into your broader equity structure.
Benchmarks
If your startup has 10,000,000 total shares and you create a 10-15% option pool, you are setting aside 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 shares. Granting 1.0% to your first engineer means they receive 100,000 options. You can run your own exact numbers using my 2026 option pool calculator. According to recent market data, typical early-stage companies allocate 10-15% of their total equity to the employee pool.
Options vs restricted stock units (RSUs)
Founders often debate between stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs) for early hires. Stock options give employees the right to buy shares at a fixed strike price. RSUs are actual shares granted on a vesting schedule, carrying immediate tax implications. Stick to options for early-stage B2B SaaS to keep taxes manageable for your team.
Risks
Do not over-allocate your option pool. Creating a 20-25% pool too early dilutes founder equity unnecessarily before you even make key hires. Conversely, an undersized pool of 5-8% will force you to seek board approval to expand it the second you try to hire a senior executive. Always map your hiring plan for the next 18-24 months before setting the pool size.
Will handing out equity options get you to $10K MRR?
Mastering equity is necessary, but handing out options doesn't magically generate revenue. If your product and market timing are weak, your probability of hitting $10K MRR remains zero. Use this template to secure your team, but remember you still need to relentlessly drive pipeline growth to hit your initial revenue milestones. This is why I built Traction OS. Fix your foundation before you launch.
FAQ
- You:How large should my initial option pool be?Guide:You should plan for a range of 10-15% of your total equity at the pre-seed or seed stage. Investors will typically force you to expand this pool right before a Series A round.
- You:What happens to unvested options if an employee leaves?Guide:Unvested options typically return to the company option pool. This allows you to reissue those shares to future hires without diluting the founders any further.
No-BS guides
📉 Avg founder's probability: 12%
What if your startup is doomed to fail? ò_ô
You spent 5 minutes reading about tactics. Don't leave without checking if your current strategy can get you to $10K MRR in the next 90 days.