Price Per Share

The amount paid for each new share in a funding round, calculated after all option pool and conversion mechanics.

Example

An investor paying 2,000,000 for 2,285,714 shares pays 0.875 per share.

It is a more reliable measure of a deal than headline valuation, which can be adjusted by terms underneath.

Pre-Money Valuation — A company's agreed value immediately before a financing round's new money is added.
Post-Money Valuation — A company's agreed value immediately after a financing round's new money has been added, equal to the total resulting share count multiplied by the round's price per share.
Option Pool Shuffle — Requiring a new or enlarged option pool to be created within the pre-money valuation, so its cost falls on existing shareholders rather than the new investor.

The option pool shuffle quietly lowers the founders' real price — Post-money equals pre-money plus the new investment. But when investors require an option pool to be created inside the pre-money valuation, the existing shareholders bear its full cost. (13 min)
A convertible note is a loan that usually becomes shares, at the better of two prices — A convertible note is debt that converts into equity at a future round, typically at the lower of a discounted price or a capped price, with interest added to the amount converting. (12 min)
Convertibles trade speed and low cost for an unsettled price — SAFEs and notes close quickly and cheaply but defer the valuation and the governance. Priced rounds cost more and take longer, and they settle ownership, rights and price now. (11 min)