Where to get the official template
The canonical post-money SAFE documents live at ycombinator.com/documents, free, as editable Word files. Never pay for a SAFE template. Never use a scanned PDF of one. Every US startup lawyer already knows these forms by sight, which is exactly why using an unmodified version closes rounds faster.
The four templates
| Template | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation cap, no discount | Most common seed SAFE. Investor converts at the lower of the cap or the priced-round price. | Default choice when you and the investor can agree a number. |
| Discount, no valuation cap | Investor converts at a percentage discount (typically 10–20%) to the priced round. | Useful when a round is imminent and valuation is genuinely unknown. |
| Valuation cap and discount | Investor gets whichever of the two is better for them. | Investor-friendly. Expect to be asked; you do not have to agree. |
| MFN, no cap, no discount | Investor automatically gets the best terms you give any later SAFE investor. | What YC uses for the $375K half of its own $500K deal. |
Post-money vs pre-money, in one example
You raise $500K on a $10M cap. Under a post-money SAFE, that investor owns exactly 5% at conversion, full stop. Under the old pre-money SAFE, their percentage moved every time you signed another SAFE, and founders routinely discovered at Series A that they had given away 10–15% more than they modelled.
This is the whole reason YC rewrote the form in 2018. Post-money SAFEs shift the dilution uncertainty from the investor to you, which is fair, because you are the one who knows how much more you plan to raise.
Three mistakes founders make with SAFEs
- Stacking without a model. Four SAFEs at four different caps is a cap table you cannot explain to a Series A lead. Keep a running dilution sheet.
- Editing the body. Custom clauses turn a two-day close into a two-week legal review. Put anything unusual in a side letter.
- Treating the cap as a valuation. A cap is a ceiling on conversion price, not a statement that your company is worth that number.
Go deeper
For the full mechanics of how the SAFE converts, what happens at an acquisition, and how it interacts with your option pool, read our longer breakdown of the YC SAFE. For how YC's own $500K is structured across two SAFEs, see the YC deal. Before any of it matters, settle your co-founder equity split.
FAQ
Where do I get the official SAFE note template?
Y Combinator publishes all four post-money SAFE templates free at ycombinator.com/documents. They are plain Word documents. Do not buy a SAFE template from anyone — the canonical versions are free and every US startup lawyer recognises them.
What is a post-money SAFE?
A post-money SAFE fixes the investor's ownership percentage at the moment of conversion, based on the company valuation after the SAFE money is counted. YC switched from pre-money to post-money SAFEs in 2018 precisely so founders could calculate dilution exactly instead of guessing.
What is the difference between pre-money and post-money SAFE?
Under a pre-money SAFE, the investor's final ownership depends on how much other SAFE money comes in later, so dilution is unknowable until the priced round. Under a post-money SAFE, ownership is locked at signing: $500K on a $10M post-money cap is exactly 5%. Post-money is now the standard.
Which of the four SAFE templates should I use?
There are four: valuation cap only, discount only, cap and discount, and MFN (no cap, no discount). Cap-only is the most common for seed rounds. MFN is what YC itself uses for the $375K portion of its own deal.
Does a SAFE dilute the founders immediately?
No. A SAFE is not equity until it converts at a priced round or liquidity event. But the dilution is real and already committed — model it on your cap table from day one, because stacked SAFEs surprise founders at Series A.
Do I need a lawyer to sign a SAFE?
For a standard unmodified YC SAFE with a straightforward cap, many founders sign without one. The moment anyone edits the body of the template — side letters, pro-rata rights, MFN carve-outs, board provisions — get a startup lawyer to read it.
Not legal advice. Independent research, not affiliated with Y Combinator.