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Cap table as-a-service

J

Hi all

I am interested in creating a product aimed at early stage startups, where in Airtable, I build a template for helping them keep track of their equity, convertibles and stock options etc. I am specifically interested in a way, where it is possible to centrally to updates to the template which are then automatically deployed to the copies. E.g. if 100 startups use the template, and then I need to update something in the Airtable, it would be great to be able to deploy the changes at once.

My understanding is that this is not currently supported by way of making a template (i.e. updates to the template cannot be deployed to the copies of the template in use), but a way of achieving this could be to have all the different users in the same base, and then governing by way of permissions and views that they can’t see or edit each others’ templates. This seems, however, also as a sub-optimal solution at least in the case of 100+ users.

I am writing to get the community’s take on whether my assumptions are right, and whether there are any other tools (ideally compatible with Airtable) that may be more suited for the task. I am of course happy to provide greater detail on the specific features needed and use case for anyone interested in engaging further.

Thank you to anyone who can help out.

3 replies

A
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I dont think so, even if you used say, Node.js, you still wouldn’t be able to update other bases and their overall structure because the API doesnt allow for creating new fields or altering formulas, links, etc.

You would probably have to quote your clients for the update, copy the base over and then migrate data via CSV exports and imports.

Its a good idea, however. The best next thing I can think of is offering the public URL of the base to your clients and password protect it. They would be responsible for copying it over and populating the data, and they can hire you for the update or just do it themselves if they want. You’d probanly want decent documentation that can guide them through that process in that case.

kuovonne
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  • kuovonne
  • Brainy
  • 6002 replies
  • May 27, 2020

You are correct that you cannot put out updates to a template. Any changes to the existing bases would need to be made manually.

Having all of the users in the same base is problematic because Airtable permissions cannot hide data from collaborators on the same base.

An alternative is to create a client portal using Stacker. Stacker could manage the user permissions and you could maintain control of the back end and make updates to the base structure as needed.

If Stacker is out of your price range and you are good at coding, you could also build your own portal using the REST API.

If this answers your question, please mark this post as the solution. Otherwise, could you please give a bit more details and a screen capture?

R
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  • riyadroyad
  • New Participant
  • 3 replies
  • March 10, 2023

I just came across this post, and while I know this answer is a bit late, I thought I'd still chime in. Have you considered using Zapier or Integromat to automate the process of updating the template for multiple users? These tools allow you to create workflows that trigger actions based on certain conditions, and you can set them up to automatically update the template whenever changes are made.
Also, I recently came across some helpful info about the 409a valuation startup, which can be useful for early-stage startups that need to determine the fair market value of their common stock. It's always good to have as much information as possible when starting a new venture!

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