Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#1

Post by iliabara » Sun, Apr 26, 2026, 10:14 PM UTC

I put this together (with Claude) as a semi-gamified way for folks to learn about startup equity. Take a look, and share your scorecard :)

Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game
options-game-polymathrobotics.pythonanywhere.com

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#2

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Apr 26, 2026, 10:14 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#3

Post by mikert89 » Sun, Apr 26, 2026, 10:34 PM UTC

Quick equation:

1. is it an ai lab with a well know founder -> equity might be worth something

2. are you the CEO founder? -> equity might be worth something

3. are you a non CEO co founder? -> equity might be worth something, will probably be stolen from you

4. is the company a year or two from a certain IPO? equity might be worth something

5. all other cases likely zero

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#4

Post by jagged-chisel » Sun, Apr 26, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC

Yeah, that’s not how my company operates. I’m maintaining my majority share by splitting only. The VCs can go along, or they can hope their next investment is the unicorn.

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#5

Post by withinboredom » Sun, Apr 26, 2026, 11:10 PM UTC

jagged-chisel wrote: post #4

Yeah, that’s not how my company operates. I’m maintaining my majority share by splitting only. The VCs can go along, or they can hope their next investment is the unicorn.

Yeah, also seems very US-centric with "outstanding shares". Other countries don't allow you to have outstanding shares. Also, where is the "reinvest" option during series rounds. Like, what founder also doesn't reinvest to keep their equity during fund raising?

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#6

Post by tailscaler2026 » Sun, Apr 26, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

It doesn't understand authorized vs issued shares

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#7

Post by nengil » Mon, Apr 27, 2026, 12:14 AM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#8

Post by jiveturkey » Mon, Apr 27, 2026, 12:19 AM UTC

so many erroneous statements in this game. also it's not much of a "game", is it.

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#9

Post by opengrass » Mon, Apr 27, 2026, 12:49 AM UTC

Thank you for python anywhere, I will add that to my chasm of free hosters.

Re: Show HN: Startup Equity Adventure Game

#10

Post by jmward01 » Mon, Apr 27, 2026, 1:39 AM UTC

SaaSyCryptoAI - Leverage our custom AI driven backend to mint your own coin! Seriously though, great little lesson. It would be nice to factor in internal raises and a bit of granularity for when exercises happened to see final payouts and similar bonus topics but I would recommend this to anyone thinking about taking a job with options involved.