Setting up the equity incentive plan in the AngelList equity app allows you to dynamically generate grant letters with customized values.
You will be able to have emloyees sign grants without another e-signature tool and grant data will be automatically updated in your cap table.
The below assumes you already have a board and stockholder approved equity incentive plan.
You should consult your legal counsel before creating an equity plan or option pool. If you need an introduction to a trusted attorney, check out a list here or email us at startups@angellist.com for an introduction.
Contact startups@angellist.com if you need assistance setting up your equity plan.
Getting Started
What grant documents will I need?
You will need a few documents to configure your equity plan:
- The Equity Incentive Plan (pdf): This is the core document that is approved by the board and stockholders. It includes general terms that apply to all grants made out of the plan and establishes the number and type of equity grants that can be made. If you've amended your equity plan, you'll also need the amendments.
- The Board and Stockholder Consents: These documents record the formal authorizations for creating the equity plan.
- Forms of Grant Templates (docx): These documents outline the terms of a grant for a recipient. Depending on your equity plan, you may have separate templates for options and restricted stock awards (RSAs). Later stage company equity plans often also include RSUs and SARs. The templates are used for generating specific grants.
- Form of Exercise (docx): This agreement document is used to exercise an option. If your equity plan allows for early exercise of options, it may have separate forms of exercise for early exercise and standard exercises or it may have a single form that covers both.
Adding your Equity Incentive Plan
Navigate to Equity > Securities > Equity Plans and click Add plan. Fill out the form with the necessary information, upload the primary equity plan document in PDF form, and add a bank account. Note that you will need to have already created a Share Class. 
Adding banking information is required in order to receive exercise payments from option holders. If you haven't already, follow the link at the bottom of the form to create a high-interest bank account. Creating an AngelList bank account streamlines the process and makes it easier to know when payment has been received. 
After adding the equity plan, you'll need to configure the details of the Option Plan. The details needed to configure your equity plan for option granting can be found in your Equity Plan, sometimes called a Stock Option Plan or Equity Incentive Plan. To do this, click into the equity plan, select Options, and click Configure. 
Go through each section of the form to add in configuration details and click Save. Alternitvely, you can also ask your lawyer to do this for you by clicking Loop in law firm. 
Storing your Equity Plan Board Consent(s)
If your attorney already created a Board Consent for your Equity Plan, upload the Board Consent.
To add a Board Consent, navigate to Company > Board Consents. Click New Board Consent and select "Upload executed consent". 
Repeat the process for any prior amendments.
Configuring Grant Document Templates
If your Equity Plan has been added according to the instructions above, you're ready to configure your grant document templates.
- Navigate to Equity > Configuration > Grant Templates and click New. Fill out the form with all necessary information.
- Next, locate and open your .docx file of your option grant letter document. You'll configure the dynamic fields using the variables in the table below. Repeat this process for Form(s) of Grant as well as Exercise Agreements.
Template Document Variables
| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| General Fields | |
| {{company_legal_name}} | Company Legal Name (ex: SampleCo Inc. |
| {{plan_name}} | Name of Equity Plan |
| {{grant_date}} | Grant Issuance Date |
| {{grant_id}} | Grant ID |
| {{company_address}} | Company Address |
| {{company_state}} | Company's State of Incorporation |
| {{num_units}} | Number of Shares or Units being granted |
| Grantee Fields | |
| {{employee_name}} | Grantee Name |
| {{employee_email}} | Grantee Email |
| {{employee_address}} | Grantee Address |
| {{employee_title}} | Grantee Title |
| {{employee_id}} | Employee ID |
| Vesting Fields | |
| {{vesting_description}} | The name of the schedule (ie 4 year monthly, 1 year cliff). |
| {{vesting_description_with_name}} | The name of the schedule + the full-length description (ie 4 year monthly, 1 year cliff - 25% of shares will vest on the 1 year anniversary of the vesting start date, then 1/48 of shares shall vest monthly on the last day of the period.) |
| {{vesting_schedule_long}} | Vesting Schedule terms without name of vesting schedule (ie 25% of shares will vest on the 1 year anniversary of the vesting start date, then 1/48 of shares shall vest monthly on the last day of the period.) |
| {{vesting_start_date}} | Vesting commencement date |
| {{acceleration_terms}} | Acceleration terms |
| Signature Page Fields | |
| {{company_signature_block}} | Company Signature Block |
| {{employee_signature_block}} | Grantee Signature Block |
| Option Grant Fields | |
| {{grant_type}} | Grant Type (ISO/NSO) |
| {{expiry_date}} | Grant Expiry Date |
| {{exercise_price_per_unit}} | Exercise Price per Unit |
| {{total_exercise_cost}} | Total Exercise Cost |
| RSA Fields | |
| {{issue_price_per_unit}} | Purchase Price Per share |
| {{issue_date}} | Date of Purchase |
| {{shareholder_name}} | Shareholder Name |
| {{total_purchase_price}} | Total Purchase Price |
| Exercise Agreement Fields | |
| {{company_name}} | Name of the company |
| {{exercise_date}} | Date of the exercise |
| {{share_class_name}} | Share class which will be issued after exercising |
| {{num_shares}} | Number of options being exercised |
| {{exercise_price_per_share}} | Price per share paid to exercise |
| {{total_price}} | Total price of the exercise, excluding tax withholdings |
Note: AngelList automatically generates a signature page. In your docx grant letter, remove the signature page of the grant letter.
Upload your dynamic grant letter as a docx using the relevant variables, then upload your Equity Incentive Plan as a PDF, add your custom signature page text, and complete creation of your New Grant Document Set. 
You can use this set to generate grant documents going forward.
If you would prefer to execute the grant documents off-platform, you may skip grant document configuration.
Configuring Vesting Templates
You can customize a wide variety of vesting templates under Equity-> Configuration -> Vesting Templates.
Configuring vesting templates allows you to:
- Quickly add common vesting schedules to securities in your cap table.
- Use the vesting description associated with the vesting template to generate new grant award documents with the appropriate vesting description.
When generating grant documents, vesting templates can be injected into the documents in the following ways:
| Variable | Example Injection Into the Document |
|---|---|
| {{vesting_description}} | 4 year monthly, 1 year cliff |
| {{vesting_description_with_name}} | 4 year monthly, 1 year cliff - 25% of shares will vest on the 1 year anniversary of the vesting start date, then 1/48 of shares shall vest monthly on the last day of the period. |
| {{vesting_schedule_long}} | 25% of shares will vest on the 1 year anniversary of the vesting start date, then 1/48 of shares shall vest monthly on the last day of the period. |
Configuring Acceleration Templates
You can customize a wide variety of acceleration templates under Equity-> Configuration -> Acceleration Templates.
Configuring acceleration templates allows you to both:
- Create a security in your equity app that has the relevant acceleration term recorded in a way that you can easily track and report on it.
- Use the terms description for the acceleration template to generate new award documents with the appropriate acceleration description.
Important If you want the terms from an acceleration template to populate in a new grant using a grant template, make sure that the grant template includes the acceleration variable {{acceleration_terms}}.