DPI Calculator
The formula
What the dpi tells you
Distributions to paid-in: real dollars handed back per dollar called — the private-markets metric with no valuation opinion inside it.
Calculation: DPI = distributions ÷ paid-in capital. Enter your inputs and every substitution is shown below the result.
Reading the result
Age matters: DPI ≥ 0.5 by year eight is respectable; ≥ 1.0 means the fund has beaten its own gravity.
Rules of thumb: Top-quartile older venture funds reach DPI 1.5–2.5; the median never clears 1.0
Limitations and best practice
Comparing DPI across vintages of different ages misleads — young funds are near zero by construction.
This calculator gives an estimate based on standard formulas; it is not professional financial, medical, legal or engineering advice. Verify anything you plan to act on with a qualified professional and your own records.
Frequently asked questions
Can DPI be high and still bad?
Why do allocators weight DPI so heavily?
Source & methodology
ILPA template; Kaplan-Schoar methodology.
DPI: the number, the method and the caveats
You are here because you need a specific number, and you want to see how it was produced before you rely on it. DPI is the kind of number people argue about from memory. This page ends that argument with arithmetic you can watch happen: enter your figures, get DPI in real time, and see every substitution printed below.
What makes DPI worth calculating is not precision but position: it tells you which side of a threshold you are on, and by how much. A rough figure that settles the direction beats an elaborate one that never commits.
People rarely disagree about arithmetic; they disagree about assumptions that were never written down. Printing the substitution and the sensitivity ranking removes that category of disagreement for DPI.
Nothing below is stock text pasted around a number: the worked example computes DPI = 0.56 × from this tool’s own defaults, and the sensitivity section ranks the inputs that move the result — Paid-in capital first, at ≈11.1 % of the headline for a ten-percent error either way in that input — which is the thread the rest of this guide pulls on.
How DPI is computed, line by line
One formula, published in full: DPI = distributions ÷ paid-in capital. Anything you can read, you can reproduce in a spreadsheet, and that reproducibility is the whole point of printing it rather than hiding it behind a button.
Paid-in capital ($) (example value 81,925,140) is a plain measured quantity — the unit shown in the label is the unit the formula expects. Replace the example with the figure from your own records — the tool recomputes instantly and the printed steps follow your numbers.
Distributions to LPs ($) (example value 46,000,000) is a numeric input whose unit is fixed by the label; a wrong unit is a wrong answer wearing a plausible disguise. The example value is there to demonstrate the mechanics, not to describe your situation — overwrite it.
A fully worked DPI example
The tool prints its own working; this is the same arithmetic on the example values, reproduced so you can follow it by hand. Starting figures: Paid-in capital ($), Distributions to LPs ($). The endpoint of that chain is 0.56 × of DPI, sitting in the “Half the capital back — credible harvesting” band.
- DPI = $46,000,000 ÷ $81,925,140 = 0.56
Capital still to return — $35,925,140. Read next to the headline, this is the figure that shows the shape of the trade-off.
Percent of capital returned — 56.1 %. If your inputs change, this is usually the first companion figure to move.
Residual MOIC still needed to reach 2× total — 1.44 ×. Compare it against the main result of 0.56 × before drawing conclusions.
Overwrite any input above and every line of this example updates with it — the substitution is live, not a screenshot of somebody else’s numbers.
How far DPI can reasonably move
Read this table as the practical error bar on the headline figure. It answers the question people actually have after seeing a single number: how wrong could this be if the main input is off by ten or twenty percent?
| Paid-in capital setting | DPI |
|---|---|
| 80 % of the example value | 0.70 × |
| 90 % of the example value | 0.62 × |
| example inputs | 0.56 × |
| 110 % of the example value | 0.51 × |
| 120 % of the example value | 0.47 × |
That spread — 0.47 × at the low end, 0.70 × at the high — is what a careful read of DPI looks like: a band you can state out loud, with the reason for each edge. Reproduce it in the form above by editing Paid-in capital alone; the substitution steps will follow your figures exactly.
The levers behind DPI, ranked by effect
Generic advice says “it depends on your inputs”; this section says exactly how much. Each field was perturbed by ±10 % in isolation and the DPI recomputed, so the ranking below is measured rather than asserted. For DPI the ranking is measured rather than guessed, and it belongs to these defaults: shift the starting point and the order can shift with it.
- Nudge Paid-in capital by ±10 % and DPI lands between 0.51 × and 0.62 × (sensitivity ≈11.1 %)
- Nudge Distributions to LPs by ±10 % and DPI lands between 0.51 × and 0.62 × (sensitivity ≈10.0 %)
Paid-in capital is the dominant lever here: ten percent either way moves the result by about 11.1 %, from 0.51 × to 0.62 ×. Measure that input from a document rather than from memory, and treat Distributions to LPs as the second priority (≈10.0 % per ten percent). The rest of the inputs earn only a rounding-error of attention, and that asymmetry is the practical payoff of measuring rather than asserting.
Reading the result: bands, zones and thresholds
A number on its own is trivia; a number against a range is intelligence. The default case lands in the “Half the capital back — credible harvesting” band, and bands are deliberately wide because real situations overlap. The sensitivity list shows how far a modest input error moves you along that ladder: for Paid-in capital, ±10 % covers 0.51 × to 0.62 ×. The practical reading rules: ask what would have to change to move you one band. If the answer is “a small, plausible input difference”, the band itself is not the finding — the uncertainty is.
In Business & Entrepreneurship, DPI is one instrument in an orchestra: on its own it is a number, next to Capital still to return and Percent of capital returned it becomes a diagnosis. The tools linked above exist so the headline never has to carry that weight alone.
The errors that quietly break a DPI figure
Comparing DPI across vintages of different ages misleads — young funds are near zero by construction. This calculator gives an estimate based on standard formulas; it is not professional financial, medical, legal or engineering advice. Verify anything you plan to act on with a qualified professional and your own records.
Treating the example inputs as a recommendation. They are a demonstration of the mechanism — a decision-grade DPI begins the moment your own figures replace them.
Attention is also misallocated between fields. Having measured this engine, we can say where it belongs: Paid-in capital first, everything else second.
A final trap is presentation: reporting DPI to more decimal places than the inputs support. The tool prints what the arithmetic gives; you should quote only what your least precise field justifies.
Before you trust your DPI: a short checklist
- Compare the result with one independent method or published benchmark.
- State, in one sentence, which convention each rate, unit or period in the form is using.
- Check Paid-in capital before anything else: it is the measured dominant input, ≈11.1 % of DPI per ten percent.
- Re-run the calculation with a ±10 % stress on the two most sensitive inputs.
- Recompute once with the dominant input deliberately set low, and see whether the decision changes.
- Run the ±10 % stress on the top two levers and check that your conclusion survives both.
A routine for decision-grade DPI
Using a calculator well sounds trivial, but the difference between a decision-grade figure and a throwaway one lives entirely in the routine. The routine for DPI takes a minute to learn and applies to every input above.
Step 1 — collect, then type. Everything this tool asks for is listed above (paid-in capital ($), distributions to lps ($)). Pull each figure from something you can point at — paperwork, a dashboard, a label — before touching a field. Guesswork at the input stage cannot be repaired at the interpretation stage. When two sources disagree, it is almost never the arithmetic that differs.
Step 2 — compute the version you would not be embarrassed by. If a stranger audited your inputs, which set would you hand over? Enter that set, read the result, and treat everything else as upside. Numbers are cheap to produce and expensive to retract; the extra minute is the cheapest insurance available.
Step 3 — measure what deserves measuring. The ranked levers above tell you where a careful figure pays off. Everything else can stay approximate, which is a licence to stop hunting for data you do not need. Suspiciously tidy answers deserve the same scrutiny as untidy ones.
Step 4 — run the scenario trio. Expected, pessimistic, optimistic. The gap between pessimistic and expected is the number to plan against; the optimistic result is useful only as a ceiling. The test of a good estimate is not that it feels right but that it changes what you do.
Step 5 — write the one-line memo. “DPI = 0.56 × on this date, from these inputs.” That line is the entire deliverable; everything else on this page is how you earned the right to write it. Estimates improve most when the worst case is written down in ink.
From calculation to decision: where DPI earns its keep
Most Startup Metrics disagreements are arithmetic disagreements in disguise. When DPI of 0.56 × sits on the table with its working shown, the conversation stops being about who sounds more confident and starts being about which input is wrong. Note the assumption you are least sure about; that is where the real risk lives.
Used properly this is a five-minute filter that saves weeks. Compute DPI, reject what fails, and only then bring in the expensive analysis for the survivors. Comparisons are cheap: run the identical calculation for the alternative and look at the gap.
There is a personal-administration use people overlook: periodic self-checking. DPI quietly drifts as life changes — rates move, bodies change, costs compound — and re-running it a few times a year catches drift while correction is still cheap. Say the answer out loud before you save it; if it sounds wrong, the model did not change, your understanding did.
DPI — frequently asked questions
What affects DPI the most?
The short answer: Paid-in capital. The longer answer is the sensitivity table on this page, where every numeric input was probed by ten percent and the DPI recalculated — Paid-in capital moved it furthest, by roughly 11.1 % (0.51 × to 0.62 ×).
Which matters more: distributions to lps or paid-in capital?
For DPI, Paid-in capital wins the head-to-head (≈11.1 % against ≈10.0 % per ten-percent change). Knowing which input dominates is the difference between careful work and merely slow work.
What is a typical DPI?
On the worked example above DPI comes out at 0.56 ×. Treat that as one point on a distribution rather than a norm: the bands, the companion outputs and the sensitivity ranking tell you how wide the plausible range really is.
How do I calculate DPI by hand?
Use the stated model — DPI = distributions ÷ paid-in capital — and substitute in the order the tool prints (it starts from DPI = $46,000,000 ÷ $81,925,140 = 0.56). On the example inputs the hand route lands on 0.56 ×, exactly what the calculator shows. A spreadsheet reproduces it in two or three cells; doing it once by hand is what makes the automated answer trustworthy.
What happens to DPI if paid-in capital changes by 10 %?
Try it in the form above and the printed substitution will follow you; the pre-computed answer for the defaults is 0.51 × to 0.62 × across the ten-percent probe, i.e. ≈11.1 % sensitivity on the DPI.
Is the DPI result of 0.56 × good or bad?
The tool answers “what”, not “whether”: 0.56 × carries the verdict “Half the capital back — credible harvesting” for the default case, which is a starting interpretation rather than a verdict on your situation. Re-run with your own figures and compare the bands.
Can DPI be negative or empty?
Yes, and that is informative rather than broken: a negative DPI usually means the inputs encode an outflow or a shortfall, and the verdict band above labels exactly that situation instead of hiding it.
What affects DPI the most?
Sensitivity depends on where you start, but the inputs Paid-in capital ($) and Distributions to LPs ($) typically move DPI further than the rest because they enter the formula multiplicatively. If you can only measure two things well, measure those and hold the others at conservative defaults.
Can DPI be high and still bad?
Yes — 1.2× DPI over 18 years is a below-market IRR wearing a good number.
Why do allocators weight DPI so heavily?
Because marks can be negotiated; cash cannot.
Does this DPI tool store my numbers?
No. The entire calculation runs in your browser session; nothing entered above is transmitted or saved, which is the correct behaviour for sensitive Business & Entrepreneurship figures and the reason you can re-run this page as often as you like.
Key terms on this page
- Capital still to return
- $35,925,140 on the example inputs — a companion figure printed beside the headline of DPI so that no result is read in isolation.
- Percent of capital returned
- 56.1 % in the default DPI calculation — one of the secondary figures an experienced reader checks before trusting the primary number.
- Residual MOIC still needed to reach 2× total
- 1.44 × on the example inputs — a companion figure printed beside the headline of DPI so that no result is read in isolation.
- DPI
- The primary output of this tool: 0.56 × for the default inputs, computed exactly from DPI = distributions ÷ paid-in capital.
- Worked example
- Every substitution in order, from the example inputs to 0.56 × — the audit trail for the headline figure.
- Verdict band
- The interpretation attached to a result (“Half the capital back — credible harvesting” on these inputs), which turns a bare number into a position on a scale.
- Sensitivity (±10 %)
- How far the DPI moves when a single input is nudged ten percent either way; the ranked list on this page is computed live from this engine.
Methodology, sources and limits
The model is published arithmetic implemented exactly as written: DPI = distributions ÷ paid-in capital. Source of record: ILPA template; Kaplan-Schoar methodology. Any other implementation of this model should return the same figure for the same inputs. If one does not, the difference is in its assumptions — which this page prints and that one probably does not.
This page is an estimation aid, not professional advice. The design rule is simple: two people entering identical figures must get identical answers. Nothing is smoothed, weighted or adjusted behind the scenes; where judgement enters, this page says so and names the input responsible.
Turning this DPI into a decision
Save the number together with its inputs and today’s date; a DPI figure without context is unusable the moment an input changes.
The audience here is people who need one trustworthy number before their next decision. Everything you need to defend the result — formula, substitution, sensitivity, source — is printed above, so the only remaining variable is the honesty of your inputs.