A cap table is a structured record of every share, option, warrant, SAFE, and convertible note issued by a company, showing fully-diluted ownership across founders, employees, and investors at each financing round. Cap tables are maintained in spreadsheets or equity management software and must match board approvals and stock ledgers. Investors and acquirers review them closely in due diligence, and errors can delay a financing or sale. Pro forma cap tables model how a new round, pool increase or conversion would change ownership.

Why it matters

Investors will diligence the cap table line-by-line. Common MedTech red flags: unissued advisor shares, unrecorded SAFEs, mis-vesting on founder shares, or a missing 83(b) election. Cap-table software (Carta, Pulley) is now standard.

Common pitfalls

•Maintaining the cap table in a spreadsheet - error-prone and a diligence nightmare by Series B.
•Forgetting to model option pool refreshes at each round.

Sources

Carta cap table 101 · Carta
NVCA Model Documents · NVCA
Silicon Valley Bank - Healthcare Reports · SVB
SEC capital-raising glossary: capitalization tables · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

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Why compare MedTech terms side by side?

MedTech terminology is full of pairs that look interchangeable but carry very different regulatory, clinical, and commercial consequences. Picking the wrong framework, pathway, or standard early in a project can add months to a submission, invalidate clinical evidence, or trigger an audit finding. Side-by-side comparison is the fastest way to surface those differences before they become costly mistakes.

Each comparison on this page pulls from the same vendor-neutral, sourced definitions used throughout the MedTech Terms glossary. You see the one-line summary, the formal definition, why it matters in practice, common pitfalls, and the primary sources (FDA guidance, EU MDR/IVDR articles, ISO/IEC standards, MDCG documents, IMDRF principles) that back each entry. That makes the comparison defensible in regulatory strategy memos, design reviews, and submission narratives.

Common comparison patterns

Regulatory pathway choice - 510(k) vs PMA, 510(k) vs De Novo, Abbreviated vs Special 510(k).
Quality systems - QSR vs ISO 13485, QMSR vs QSR.
Software classification - SaMD vs SiMD, Locked vs adaptive AI.
EU frameworks - MDR vs IVDR, CE Mark vs UKCA.
Cybersecurity artifacts - SPDX vs CycloneDX SBOM, CVE vs CVSS.
Post-market actions - Recall vs field action, Removal vs correction.

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MedTech Terms is a vendor-neutral community resource sponsored by Blue Goat Cyber. Definitions are written for educational use and are not legal or regulatory advice.