Skip to content

Rules

Home

Goal

Each player runs a $100M fund. After the years you choose at setup (6, 8, 10, 12, or 20) the biggest Fund Value wins. Nobody is knocked out.

Fund Value = cash + money not yet called + startup shares × price × 50% + shop sale values.

Your turn

  1. Roll two dice and move clockwise. Passing or landing on Demo Day calls $20M (until $100M).
  2. Do what your space says: buy startup shares, buy a shop, Pitch Night (buy in any startup), Big News, Paperwork (pay $2M), Garage (a free seed share), or Board Meeting (+2 for one of your startups).
  3. Optional: one Office Move — upgrade a shop ($8M, +1 profit, max 3), sell a shop, use a Scout, or propose a trade.
  4. End your turn.

Year-End Show

  1. Open shares go to outside investors.
  2. Every startup rolls 2 dice + weather + boosts + its secret.
  3. Owners of startups that grew may follow on (1 share each).
  4. Shops pay profit minus loan interest.
  5. Roll for next year's weather: 1 Winter, 2–5 Normal, 6 Boom.
  6. New seed startups fill empty spaces.
Growth roll results by stage
StageFailStallGrowBig result
Seed5 or less6–78–1112+ Rocket (to Series B)
Series A4 or less5–78–1112+ Acquired
Series B3 or less4–78–1011+ Acquired
Growth2 or less3–7—8–9 Acquired, 10+ IPO

Main Street

Main Street businesses
ShopPriceProfit / yearWith a loan
Sunny Bakery$20M$4M$5M cash + $15M loan
Bubbles Car Wash$30M$6M$8M cash + $22M loan
Spoke & Pedal Bikes$40M$8M$10M cash + $30M loan
Slice Pizza Co.$50M$10M$13M cash + $37M loan

Loan interest each Year-End: 10% (20% in Winter), rounded half up. Shop profit is halved in Winter.

Presets and lenses

Family: no loans, no trading. Classic: loans and trading. Pro: everything plus a $2M yearly management fee.

Each player picks a lens that only changes what they see: Kid (coins and friendly stage names), Standard ($M and ownership pies), or Pro (post-money, pro-rata, TVPI, DPI, IRR, carry).

Real concept ↔ game rule

How each game rule maps to a real venture capital or private equity concept
Real conceptGame rule
A venture fund promises money it will invest over time (commitment).Each fund has $100M. You start with $40M called; passing Demo Day calls $20M more, up to $100M.
Investors own a slice of a startup (equity).Every startup has 12 founder shares plus shares sold. Your ownership = your shares ÷ total shares.
New rounds sell new shares, so old slices get smaller (dilution).Open shares that nobody buys go to outside investors at Year-End, shrinking everyone's slice.
Later rounds cost more per share (valuation step-ups).Share price by stage: Seed 1, Series A 3, Series B 8, Growth 20.
Investors research before they invest (due diligence).Spend a Scout to peek at a startup's secret (−1, 0 or +1). Optionally pay $2M to Vet for a private red/yellow flag popup; if you then buy, those flags hurt growth for everyone.
Most startups fail; a few winners return the fund (power law).Growth rolls at Year-End: Fail, Stall, Grow, or a big result. Most closed startups fail. Long-shot badges mark harder growth but bigger IPO/acquisition payouts.
Investors put more money into winners (follow-on / pro-rata).After Year-End growth, owners of startups that grew may buy 1 more share each.
Companies exit by being bought or listing on a stock market (M&A, IPO).Acquired pays shares × price × 1/2/3 (Winter/Normal/Boom). An IPO pays 50 per share.
Markets go through cycles (boom and bust).Weather changes growth rolls by −1/0/+1, exit prices, shop profits and loan rates.
Private equity buys steady businesses with loans (leveraged buyouts).Main Street shops pay profit every year. With a loan you pay less now but owe interest.
Loans are dangerous in bad times (default).If a shop's profit can't cover its interest and you can't pay, the bank takes the shop.
Shops sell for a multiple of profit (earnings multiple).Sale value = profit × 4/6/8 − loan.
Unsold private stakes are valued at a discount (marks).At game end, startup shares count at 50% of their price.
Fund managers charge fees (management fee).In the Pro preset, each fund pays $2M every Year-End.
Performance is measured as a multiple (TVPI, DPI).Your score is Fund Value; the report shows it as a multiple of $100M.