Taking Investment: Equity or Debt

This is another example of details where having a mentor/advisor goes a long way to making sure you get things right.

That said, if you have a good head on your shoulders, you shouldn’t do too badly no matter what, if you’re raising money.

You can take the lead from investors on the format, they almost always have a preference, anyway.

Debt (convertible notes when we’re talking about investment debt) tends to be a bit easier for early stage, or even more modern synthetics like the “SAFE.” The reason for this is, you can avoid pricing the round so early, when company value is largely a guess. One aside though: If literal warrants come up, it’s probably best to try to avoid it, as they’re usually needlessly complex.

That said, if investors want to do an equity investment, there’s not much reason to be against it. It’s just statistically way more common in mid-stage and beyond these days.