Demo Day+72: How S26 Term Sheets Get Priced

The applause hasn't even faded and the phones are already lighting up. This episode of Year One picks up in the 72 hours after S26's Demo Day, when term sheets start arriving with clocks attached and top companies field hundreds of offers before the weekend is over. The stakes are immediate: sign fast on incomplete information, or risk losing a hot deal while trying to compare offers against a market that suddenly looks like 2021 again. We break down why default SAFE caps have jumped from $2M-on-$20M to $4M-on-$40M in three years, what YC's own reasoning for same-day asks actually is, and how a generous-looking cap can quietly cost a founder more equity down the road. We also walk through a simple test for telling real investor conviction from manufactured urgency before the inbox even fills up. Essential listening for founders staring down their own term sheet clock, or anyone trying to understand how Demo Day money actually moves.