For every founder, the journey of building a company is a story written in sweat, sacrifice, and equity. In the beginning, that equity is simple. You and your co-founders own 100% of the company you are building. It’s your idea, your creation, your dream. But as the company grows and you decide to raise outside capital, a new and often intimidating concept enters the lexicon: dilution. It’s a term that can strike fear into the heart of a first-time founder, conjuring images of losing control and seeing their hard-earned ownership slip away. While this fear is understandable, it is often rooted in a misunderstanding of what dilution truly is and the critical role it plays in the high-growth startup journey.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.