The Secret Language of Angel Investing

CLA. SAFE. Pre-seed. Lead investor. STAK. Syndicate. Dilution. Cap table.

If you’ve ever heard someone talking about angel investing and felt like you’d stumbled into a secret club, you’re not alone. Between the jargon, abbreviations, and insider phrases, it can sound like a mix of finance, law, and a made-up code — complete with mysterious handshakes (Okay, maybe not the handshake part. But definitely abbreviation bingo).

The truth is, the angel investing world does have its own language. But here’s the thing no one tells you:

It’s learnable. It’s doable. And yes — it’s for you too.

At AtVenture, we’re on a mission to demystify this world. To strip away the jargon, open the door, and make angel investing feel a whole lot less intimidating, especially for women and other underrepresented groups who’ve been shut out for too long. And yes, we mean the allies who want to help change that too.

Because angel investing isn’t about memorizing every acronym. It’s about backing founders you believe in. Building the future you want to see. Creating wealth and impact on your own terms.

A Few Terms, Demystified

Here are just a few of the terms you might hear early on:

• SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity): A popular way to invest in startups without setting a valuation right away. You invest now, and later your money converts into shares.

• CLA (Convertible Loan Agreement): A loan to a startup that can turn into equity (shares) later, often at the next funding round.

• STAK (Stichting Administratiekantoor): A Dutch legal structure that separates economic ownership from voting rights — common in startup setups.

• Cap table (Capitalization Table): The spreadsheet showing who owns what percentage of a company.

• TAM (Total Addressable Market): The total revenue opportunity for a product or service, if it could capture 100% of its market.

• Pro rata rights: The right for existing investors to maintain their ownership percentage by investing in future rounds.

The first time you hear them, they can sound like a foreign language. But once you learn the basics, you start to see the bigger picture and the possibilities.

Why We’re Here

At AtVenture, we’ve built an Angel Accelerator that’s part education, part community, part door-opener. We’re here so you don’t have to figure it all out alone. If we can learn it, so can you. And we’ll teach you every step of the way.

Curious? Let’s open the door together: Join the AtVenture Angel Accelerator