Intervoce / Guide for internal meetings

Prepare an internal share issue with Intervoce

Ahead of a share issue, the parties needing to reach an agreement—founders, the board, and existing owners—usually sit in the same room. Disagreement is rarely about the counterparty's agenda, but rather about valuation, dilution, and how hard you are willing to negotiate. Intervoce keeps the discussion on track and prepares you for the investors who are not present.

Start a negotiation

An internal meeting regarding a share issue often turns into two conversations at once: what the company actually needs and what each person considers a reasonable valuation. The difference compared to a standard negotiation is that the advice is not meant to protect you against your colleagues. It should show where you agree, what remains, and how investors are likely to react to your conclusions. Therefore, select the meeting type 'Internal strategy meeting' and describe the absent party, such as a lead investor or external financier.

01 / Prepare

Before the meeting: build a concrete briefing

Attach the supporting documentation as a PDF, Word document, or text—for example, a capitalization table, budget, board documents, or proposal—or paste the content directly. Distinguish between facts and assessments, and specify the intended recipient of the decision so the advice is tailored to your actual goal.

What we need to agree on: State the decision the meeting should reach: pre-money valuation, size of the issue, option pool, and acceptable terms. Prioritize what carries the most weight: speed, capital, or ownership structure.
My boundaries and priorities: Specify what you cannot support: the maximum dilution you accept, the valuation you cannot defend, and the conditions that would cause you to vote no. Also, write down what you will do if investors demand more, such as cutting costs faster or raising less capital.
Background information: Attach your capitalization table, the latest board document, budget, and cash burn rate, as well as a draft of terms if available. Clearly mark what is measured data and what is an assessment. Intervoce does not verify company figures for you.
External party: Describe the external party who is not present: a lead investor, a new financier, or an existing owner who must be on board. Write down what they care about, such as valuation, liquidation preferences, or board representation, and what they have said previously.
The external party's likely objections: Prepare for what investors will likely question: too high a valuation, insufficient buffer, unclear use of funds, or including the option pool pre-money. Link each objection to a response you can all stand behind.
The participants: Describe the participants: who is a founder, board member, or existing owner, and what opinions they have already expressed. This allows the advice to distinguish between a legitimate concern and an actual obstacle to the decision.
Other relevant information: Note the timeline, who will negotiate with the investors, and what can be said externally before you reach an agreement. Also, document which information is confidential and should not be shared with everyone in the room.

02 / Negotiate

During the meeting: keep the discussion focused

Distinguish between demands and gut feelings

When someone says investors will never accept that valuation, it is usually an assessment, not a requirement. The advice can help you mark what is tested data, what is a gut feeling, and what is just fatigue, so you do not concede on something that was never actually required. Verify these claims against your own documents.

Make dilution a shared calculation

Valuation, option pool, and the size of the issue are all interconnected. The same financial statement can look stingy if the pool is calculated pre-money and reasonable if it is not. Ask to calculate together using the same cap table instead of arguing over numbers that do not mean the same thing to everyone.

Determine what can be said externally

Before meeting the investors, you need to know who is negotiating, what is open for discussion, and where the boundaries are. An internal meeting that ends with 'we'll take that up with the investors' usually leaves the same disagreement to be repeated later. Instead, write down who does what and when.

03 / Summarize

After the meeting: from discussion to the next step

The summary is divided into what you agreed on, remaining disagreements, and what needs to be prepared for the investors. Go through it against the cap table and draft terms before sending anything. An internal discussion is not a board decision, and formal requirements and voting rules determine what is legally binding.

Transcription and advice in your meeting

Intervoce transcribes the conversation continuously and labels voices with speaker numbers. Speaker labeling and words can be incorrect; check especially amounts, dates, and who made a commitment. With Pro or Poweruser, you also get strategic advice based on the conversation and your briefing. Basic is for transcription and summary, without live consulting.

For Teams, Meet, Zoom, and Webex: open the meeting in the browser on your computer and share the meeting tab with audio in Chrome or Edge. Installed meeting apps are not captured via tab sharing. Use a headset. In a physical meeting, you can use the microphone; overlapping speech and echo make interpretation less certain.

Inform the participants before the transcription and ensure that the processing is permitted; in several countries, the consent of all participants is required. Only attach material that you have the right to process and share with the service's providers. Read the privacy policy before using sensitive information.

The decisions are yours. AI can misinterpret both conversations and agreements and does not replace legal, financial, or other qualified advice. Intervoce does not automatically verify market prices, salary statistics, or the counterparty's finances; provide current sources in the briefing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Must the investors be in the meeting?

No. The 'Internal strategy meeting' type is designed for you to talk among yourselves while describing the external party in the briefing. The advice evaluates your statements based on how the absent party is likely to react, without treating your colleagues as opponents.

Can we use this to prepare for the board meeting as well?

Yes. The same format works for the board, the management team, or the ownership group. The difference is who the absent party is—such as investors, a bank, or a buyer—and what the decision concerns.

Is an internal summary a board decision?

No. It is supporting material and may contain errors, especially in speaker identification and figures. Minutes, voting, and any conflict-of-interest rules determine what applies, and forecasts and valuations need to be verified by those responsible for them.