In Nine Steps Every Founder Must Take Before Seeking an Investor, we listed the option pool as step nine — the final step before bringing in outside capital. By that stage, you have already: ✅ Agreed on the founder equity split and vesting ✅ Incorporated the company ✅ Issued founder shares with vesting ✅ Filed your 83(b) election (within 30 days of the grant date) ✅ Signed IP assignment agreements The foundation is set. Ownership is clean. The structure is legal. Then comes t