Compare and graduate
How does SAFR compare?
An honest look at how early-stage instruments resolve, side by side. If you already hold a SAFE, a Convertible Note, or an Income Share that has nowhere to go, there is also a path for it to become a SAFR™ and keep the value it already holds. We call that path graduation.
Side by side
The difference is how it ends.
Every instrument here was designed for a real purpose. They differ in how a holder finally gets paid: some wait on an event that may never come, some on a fixed deadline, some on revenue or a founder’s own income. SAFR resolves on what the company can verifiably afford, by terms both sides agreed to in advance.
| Instrument | Resolves on | Deadline | Personal recourse | Verified reporting | Return shape |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convertible Note | A priced round, or its maturity date | Yes, a maturity date | Usually none | None required | Debt repaid with interest, or equity at a discount |
| SAFE | A priced round or an exit, only | None | None | None required | Equity, if it converts: no cap, no floor, often no return at all |
| Revenue-Based Financing | A share of revenue, over time | Until a return cap is met | Sometimes | Revenue figures to the funder | A capped multiple, often 1.3× to 2.0×, paid from revenue |
| Income Share (CISA) | A share of personal income, convertible to equity | A term and a cap | Yes, tied to the founder | Income figures to the funder | A capped income multiple, often around 2×, plus equity |
| KISS | A priced round, or maturity in the debt version | Debt version only | None | None required | Note-like or equity-like, by version |
| SAFR | The company’s capacity, reported quarterly, or conversion | None, and it always resolves | None, and cannot be added | Yes, a standardized Quarterly Update | A capped multiple, 1.0× to 2.5×, cash or equity |
Descriptions reflect each instrument’s common form, and specific deals vary. The multiples shown for the Revenue-Based, Income Share, and SAFR rows are representative caps; a SAFE carries no such cap, because its equity outcome can range from nothing to a large exit, which no single number would represent fairly. The point is not that the others are bad. It is that a SAFE resolves only on an event that may never come, a Note resolves on a date that can force a fight, and a personal Income Share puts the founder’s own money on the line. SAFR resolves on what a company can verifiably afford.
Graduation
The SAFR Path to Redemption.
An existing SAFE, Convertible Note, or Income Share can be moved into a SAFR, which is a graduation that carries the original value forward. You no longer have to wait on an event that may never arrive. The move opens once a company is reporting and has the capacity to back it.
SAFE to SAFR
Trade limbo for a path
- Your SAFE’s current claim value carries over and becomes your Entry Value in the SAFR.
- Because a SAFE does not track the passage of time, your schedule clock starts fresh at graduation.
- Any equity terms you held are untouched. Side letters fall away, and every holder gets the same reporting rights.
- You gain a cash resolution path and quarterly visibility a SAFE never gave you.
Convertible Note to SAFR
Keep your clock, drop the deadline
- The value that carries over is your principal plus accrued interest at graduation.
- Because a Note accrues with time, your schedule clock carries from your original funding date, so you do not restart.
- You exchange the maturity date and acceleration rights for a capped schedule that never defaults.
- You gain the rails: standardized reporting and a defined way to be repaid or convert.
Income Share to SAFR
Backed by the company, not the founder
- Your Income Share claim carries over onto venture rails at its current value.
- Personal recourse is replaced by the company’s capacity and the schedule’s headroom to 2.5×.
- The founder’s personal income is no longer the source of repayment.
- You gain standardized visibility and a defined resolution path.
What it takes
Graduation is earned, not automatic.
A position does not cross into SAFR on request. The company has to show it can carry the obligation, and the offer has to be fair to everyone holding the same paper.
Four clean quarters
The company must have issued four consecutive Quarterly Updates, each showing positive capacity and each independently attested, before any position can graduate.
Offered to everyone
A graduation offer goes to every holder of the same instrument on identical terms, and stays open for two quarters. No one is singled out, and no one is pushed.
No timing games
If a priced round closes within four quarters of a graduation, the graduated position settles at its Entry Value, so a company cannot use graduation to cap holders cheaply right before a round.
Frequently Answered Questions
FAQ
Holding a SAFE, Note, or Income Share?
See whether your SAFE, Note, or Income Share can graduate into a SAFR, and what its Entry Value would be.