Stakeholders are the employees, investors, and advisors who hold equity in your company. This guide covers how to invite them to access their personal Pulley portal, where they can view their holdings, vesting schedules, and equity documents.
Before you start, confirm two things. First, that you have admin access. Second, and more importantly, that the stakeholders you want to invite have at least one security associated with their record on the cap table. This is a hard system requirement. Stakeholders with no securities cannot be invited and won't appear in the invitation flow.
Not sure about the difference between admin access and stakeholder access? See Admin access vs. stakeholder access before proceeding.
Before you invite: verify stakeholder records
Stakeholders only appear in the invitation flow if they have securities associated with their record. Before sending invitations, it's worth confirming that your stakeholder data is accurate and complete.
See Review and edit stakeholder information to verify records before sending invitations.
Two things to check in particular:
Securities are associated. If a stakeholder doesn't appear in the invitation flow, they likely have no outstanding securities on record
Email addresses are on file. Stakeholders need a valid email address before they can be invited. If an address is missing, you can add it directly from the Draft Invites screen using the Add Emails button before sending
Step 1: Navigate to Draft Invites
Go to Stakeholders in the left navigation menu
Click the Draft Invites button in the top right corner, next to the Actions dropdown
👉 Can't find Draft Invites? Look for the gray button positioned just to the left of the green Actions button in the top right. It's easy to miss. Only stakeholders with outstanding securities on the cap table who haven't yet accepted their portal invitation will appear here.
Step 2: Select stakeholders to invite
The Draft Invites screen shows all stakeholders who are eligible to receive an invitation. Check the box next to individual stakeholders or select multiple at once for a bulk invitation.
Draft Invites is the recommended workflow for most invitations. It directs stakeholders to their Tasks page where they can view and accept all of their securities at once, making it the best experience for anyone holding multiple security types. Pulley also has a per-stakeholder invitation option, but Draft Invites is the preferred approach for most situations.
Step 3: Send the invitations
Click the green Invite Stakeholders button at the bottom of the screen. Pulley will send each selected stakeholder an email invitation to access their portal.
What happens next: the stakeholder accepts the invitation
After you send the invitation, the stakeholder receives an email and must click the link to accept. Once accepted, they'll have access to their personal portal where they can:
View their equity holdings in real time
See their vesting schedules
Access equity documents and share certificates
Submit option exercise requests (if applicable)
Stakeholders see their own holdings only. They have no visibility into the cap table, other stakeholders' equity, fully diluted percentages, or company-wide data.
Before sending invitations: Consider sending a pre-notification email through the Communications Hub a few days before triggering portal invitations. This reduces "what is this?" responses and gives stakeholders time to expect the Pulley email. See our help article for guidance on using the Communications Hub.
Tracking invitation status
Go to Stakeholders in the left navigation and check the Invite Status column for each stakeholder.
Status | Meaning |
Not Invited | Stakeholder has not been invited yet |
Invited | Invitation sent but not yet accepted. The date shown is when the last invitation was sent |
Accepted | Stakeholder has accepted and has active portal access |
Follow-up tasks
Resend an invitation: Go to Stakeholders, click Draft Invites, select the stakeholder, and click Invite Stakeholders again. The Invite Status column will update with the new date. Re-sending invitations won't cause any issues.
Re-invite a stakeholder who already has access: If you select a stakeholder who has already accepted their invitation, Pulley will send them another email but their access won't change. The Invite Status column will update with the new date. This is harmless and can be useful if you want to remind them to check their portal.
Add a missing email address: From the Draft Invites screen, click the Add Emails button in the top right and enter the missing address before sending the invitation.
Invite stakeholders during equity issuance: When issuing new securities through Pulley's e-sign flow, you'll see a checkbox to Invite Stakeholders when moving drafts to the cap table. Checking it automatically sends portal invitations, so no separate Draft Invites step is needed. This checkbox is part of the e-sign issuance flow only. If you recorded securities as signed outside of Pulley, the checkbox won't appear. Invite those stakeholders afterward using Draft Invites. For full details on the issuance flow, see Issue Shares or Grant Options to an Employee.
Troubleshooting
A stakeholder doesn't appear in Draft Invites
They likely have no outstanding securities associated with their record. Confirm they have at least one active security on the cap table. If their securities were recorded as signed outside of Pulley, the invitation may have been skipped when moving drafts to the cap table. You can invite them afterward via Draft Invites once securities are confirmed.
If you issued their securities using spreadsheet mode, check that their email address wasn't left blank. Add the email to their record first, then return to Draft Invites.
A stakeholder has no securities and needs portal access
This is a system limitation. Stakeholders must have at least one security on the cap table before they can be invited. If this is your situation, contact support to discuss your options.
A stakeholder received multiple invitation emails
This is known behavior in accounts with a high number of securities per stakeholder. The system may send several emails at once. Reassure the stakeholder that they only need to accept once.
A stakeholder can't find the invitation email
Ask them to check their spam and junk folders. Confirm the email address on their stakeholder record is correct. Also verify that email notifications are not disabled for your account under Company > Email Settings. Disabled notifications will prevent invitation emails from sending. If needed, resend the invitation via Draft Invites.