Equity Management for Photographers & Videographers: Spreadsheet vs. Pulley vs. Carta
As your photography or videography business expands from solo shoots to a full-service studio, you might bring in partners, take on investors, or offer equity to lead videographers or editors. A messy record of who owns what can cause big problems, especially when you're making major business decisions, bringing in new investors, or sharing profits. The question isn't if you should track your business ownership carefully, but which tool fits your current size and plans for growth.
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The Quick Answer
Start with a simple spreadsheet until you bring in your first outside investor beyond friends and family, or when you offer equity to more than 3-5 key creative team members. Switch to Pulley when you want a professional, affordable tool that tracks ownership, helps with future plans, and connects with your legal documents without overcharging a growing photo/video studio. Move to Carta when larger investors require it, when you need formal valuations for equity grants (like for a studio manager), or when your business grows to have complex ownership structures across multiple locations or service lines.
Side-by-Side Breakdown
Spreadsheet: Free. Works well when it’s just you and maybe a co-founder, or for simple agreements with a silent partner. It becomes risky for errors if you have many partners, different types of investors, or offer equity incentives. Remember, a spreadsheet isn’t a legal record – you’ll still need formal legal agreements for ownership.
Pulley: Costs start around $500/year for smaller businesses. It has a clear design, lets you plan for new partners or investments, helps with valuing shares for equity grants, and has a private area for your investors. It’s made for businesses like growing photo/video studios that need a professional tool but aren’t ready for the high costs of bigger platforms. It’s great for seeing how different investment or partnership deals might affect ownership.
Carta: Prices start at about $2,400/year for basic plans. This is often seen as the industry standard by bigger investors, especially if you get a major investment for expansion. It offers formal share valuations (409A), manages different types of ownership, and handles advanced transactions. While it’s expensive for smaller creative businesses, many larger investment groups will expect you to use it.
When to Use a Spreadsheet
Use a spreadsheet if you’re just starting your photography or videography business as the sole owner, or with one co-founder. It’s fine if you’ve only taken a small loan from family or a simple investment from a friend. If you have fewer than 5 people who own a piece of your business, including yourself, it’s manageable. Just make sure your lawyer keeps the official records, like your LLC operating agreement or shareholder agreements – the spreadsheet is just your way of keeping track, not the legal proof of ownership.
When to Choose Pulley
Consider Pulley once you’ve brought in a significant investment from an angel investor or a strategic business partner, and you need a professional way to show them their ownership. It’s also smart if you’re creating an equity incentive program for your lead editor, senior videographer, or a new studio manager, planning to grant equity to 5-20 key team members. If you want to model different future scenarios, like bringing in a new partner for a drone photography division or expanding to a second location, Pulley helps without the high cost of Carta at this stage. Pulley’s pricing is much more suitable for businesses that have raised under $1 million.
When to Choose Carta
You’ll likely need Carta if a larger investment group, perhaps for a major studio expansion or acquiring another photography business, requires it (which many do). You’ll also need it if you're issuing equity to employees like a studio director or a business development lead and require official 409A valuations. This ensures your equity grants are correctly priced and hold up to tax rules. Choose Carta when your business approaches the complexity of multiple service lines (e.g., weddings, real estate, commercial content), several distinct classes of ownership, or a large pool of equity incentives for a growing team. This is also when you might have a dedicated business manager or fractional CFO handling financial and equity administration.
The Verdict
Pulley offers a great solution for growing photography and videography businesses that need more than a spreadsheet but aren’t ready for Carta’s price tag. If you’re securing your first significant outside investment or starting to offer equity to your core creative team, Pulley is a strong starting point. Move to Carta when bigger investors insist on it or when your business truly justifies the higher cost and features. Don’t stick with a spreadsheet once you have multiple partners or investors; the risk of errors and the unprofessional impression it gives can harm your business.
How to Get Started
Spreadsheet: Create a basic spreadsheet with columns for each owner's name, their type of ownership (e.g., founder shares, investor shares), the number of shares or percentage, and their total ownership percentage. Update it every time an owner's share changes or a new owner joins.
Pulley: Visit pulley.com. You can upload your current ownership details or start fresh. Make sure to link all your legal documents, like shareholder agreements or equity grant letters, to each entry.
Carta: Go to carta.com. Carta’s team can assist you in moving your existing ownership records over. Be aware that moving from a spreadsheet or Pulley to Carta might take 2-4 weeks to complete, so plan ahead.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a 409A valuation and why do I need one?
A 409A valuation is an independent appraisal of your company's common stock fair market value. You need it to price your stock options. If you grant options at a price below fair market value, employees face immediate tax liability and IRS penalties. Get a 409A before issuing your first option grant and refresh it annually or after material events.
What is an option pool and how large should it be?
An option pool is the block of shares reserved for employee equity compensation. Typical pool sizes: 10-15% of fully-diluted shares at pre-seed, 15-20% before a Series A (investors often require a top-up). The pool is dilutive to founders — create it thoughtfully and model the dilution before your next fundraise.
Do SAFEs appear on my cap table?
SAFEs appear as a note in your pre-money cap table, not as shares — they convert to shares in the next priced round. Your post-money cap table should model the SAFE conversions so you can see the fully-diluted ownership picture before closing a priced round.