How 1up drives growth with solid equity management from the start on Carta

1up, an AI-driven sales enablement company headquartered in New York City, built equity management into its foundations with Carta. The company, started in 2020, is founder and CEO George Avetisov’s second startup, and he recalls the challenges of managing equity manually without Carta.

Sales teams use 1up to automate RFPs and answer customer questions in seconds. As a fast-growing company, 1up relies on Carta to manage its cap table, issue and fund SAFEs, as well as perform 409A valuations. These solutions position 1up for growth as the startup pursues new funding and expands internationally. 

1up saved up to $20K+ by starting right on Carta  

At Avetisov’s first startup, he and his cofounders used Excel to manage the company’s cap table, but they found the work laborious and spent too much time on financial accuracy and legal compliance. With 1up, Avetisov applied the lessons of his first startup and invested in Carta upfront.  

“When we founded 1up, I bought Carta immediately—pre-funding, pre-customer, pre-revenue—because the cap table was such a mess at my first startup. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake,” says Avetisov. “This time, our cap table and all of our investor docs have been clean since day one. Strong foundations have been a game changer for us.

“I would encourage other founders to invest in Carta right away, too. I could have easily spent from $10,000 to $20,000 or much more on legal fees and a fractional CFO, but Carta has provided greater value for less than that.”

Introducing SAFEs at 1up with Carta

For 1up's early fundraising, Avetisov chose SAFEs over priced rounds. SAFEs offer speed and simplicity, helping founders limit negotiations and legal complexity, while making it easier for Avetisov to expand fundraising to friends and family. 

“I had raised close to $100 million at my first startup, but never used SAFEs. At first, I was a little confused by how they work, but Carta made it super easy for me to understand the benefits of SAFEs and start using them,” says Avetisov. 

Carta’s SAFE calculator shows how notes convert to future equity, clarifying ownership percentages, dilution at the time of conversion, pre-money and post-money impacts, and stacking. On the platform, investors can review SAFE terms, track when conversion will occur, and see their ownership percentages post-conversion.

“Having simple ways to provide information to our friends and family investors is really cool. A lot of platforms that compete with Carta are built to be almost entirely institutional, but they lack flexibility. I really like that Carta allows 1up to work with experienced investors and people who may not have venture capital backgrounds. Carta creates advantages for all of our stakeholders."

Carta helps 1up prepare for growth

Carta helps Avetisov prepare for funding rounds, too. Scenario modeling lets him see how much to raise based on runway requirements and potential dilution, while Carta’s straightforward 409A valuation signals momentum to investors and anchors value for international expansion. 

“We’re getting our ducks in a row, because we plan on doubling headcount to develop new workflows and collaborative experiences in our tools. As an AI-native company, it’s important that we continually teach AI new things, improve outputs, and maintain quality with human approvals,” says Avetisov. “We’re also increasing activity in Europe and Australia, which is really exciting. I’m using Carta to show investors how our people and their ownership connect with our scalability.”

Carta informs Avetisov’s conversations with clear insight into ownership by option type and share class at scale and by individual. Information is real-time, so Avetisov never has to worry about missing or outdated data. 

“I can respond with very granular information when investors perform due diligence. It builds trust because I can pull reports and show details down to RSUs, NSOs, and ISOs in a single view,” says Avetisov. “I remember what it was like doing this in spreadsheets with a bunch of tabs. Carta is critical to streamlining our raises. I can't name a single platform that I would use besides Carta. It simplifies my life and helps drive 1up’s growth.”