RVPI Calculator
The formula
What the rvpi tells you
Residual value over paid-in: how much of the fund's story still lives in marks rather than cash.
Calculation: RVPI = unrealized NAV ÷ paid-in capital. Enter your inputs and every substitution is shown below the result.
Reading the result
High RVPI with low DPI is a promise; the pair is the health check.
Rules of thumb: Healthy mid-life: DPI + RVPI ≥ 1.5 with the majority realized
Limitations and best practice
Private marks are stale and smoothed by design — discount RVPI toward comparable public multiples before believing it.
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
What is a good RVPI at year ten?
Does it include follow-on capital?
Source & methodology
ILPA reporting standards.
How RVPI works — and what your result really means
You are here because you need a specific number, and you want to see how it was produced before you rely on it. RVPI 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 RVPI in real time, and see every substitution printed below.
There is a habit that separates people who get useful answers from Startup Metrics numbers: they decide what question the figure answers before they compute it. RVPI answers “RVPI?” — and nothing else, which is precisely why the result is trustworthy.
The discipline RVPI enforces is naming your assumptions. Paid-in capital ($) and Residual NAV ($) are guesses dressed as inputs; once they are on paper, the argument stops being about vibes and starts being about whether the guesses are defensible — which is how good decisions get made.
Every figure in the prose is generated by the engine rather than written beside it — the worked example resolves to RVPI = 0.70 × on the default inputs, 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.
The RVPI formula, explained
One formula, published in full: RVPI = unrealized NAV ÷ 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 ($) (example value 77,171,488) is a numeric input whose unit is fixed by the label; a wrong unit is a wrong answer wearing a plausible disguise. If you are unsure what belongs in this field, look at the printed steps: the substitution shows exactly how the engine uses it.
Residual NAV ($) (example value 53,742,855) is a numeric input whose unit is fixed by the label; a wrong unit is a wrong answer wearing a plausible disguise. If you are unsure what belongs in this field, look at the printed steps: the substitution shows exactly how the engine uses it.
RVPI on the example inputs: the complete substitution
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 ($), Residual NAV ($). The computed RVPI comes out at 0.70 ×, which the interpretation band labels “Still 70% of paid-in capital carried as valuation opinion”.
- RVPI = $53,742,855 ÷ $77,171,488 = 0.70
NAV per paid dollar — 0.70. If your inputs change, this is usually the first companion figure to move.
Mark haircut to zero out a 2.5× TVPI at DPI 0.4 — 84.0 %. Read next to the headline, this is the figure that shows the shape of the trade-off.
Years for marks to double at 15% NAV growth — 5.0. Compare it against the main result of 0.70 × before drawing conclusions.
Keep this worked example open while you enter your own figures: matching the shape of the substitution is the fastest way to spot a unit or convention mistake.
How far RVPI can reasonably move
The honest version of any estimate is a corridor, and this one is cheap to produce: RVPI was recomputed at 5 points along the dominant input, with every other field left untouched.
| Paid-in capital setting | RVPI |
|---|---|
| 80 % of the example value | 0.87 × |
| 90 % of the example value | 0.77 × |
| example inputs | 0.70 × |
| 110 % of the example value | 0.63 × |
| 120 % of the example value | 0.58 × |
Across 5 settings of Paid-in capital, the result spans 0.58 × to 0.87 ×. A decision that only works at one row of this table is a decision waiting for an input to move. Reproduce it in the form above by editing Paid-in capital alone; the substitution steps will follow your figures exactly.
What actually moves your RVPI
This list was computed for this specific engine just now: each numeric input was nudged ±10 % while every other field held its example value, and the RVPI was recalculated from scratch. Read it as a map of where RVPI is fragile — drawn for the example inputs, which is the map you want when deciding what to measure carefully.
- Paid-in capital: ten percent up gives 0.63 ×, ten percent down gives 0.77 × — ≈11.1 % of the RVPI either way
- Residual NAV +10 % → RVPI = 0.77 × · −10 % → 0.63 × (the RVPI shifts ≈10.0 %)
Paid-in capital is the dominant lever here: ten percent either way moves the result by about 11.1 %, from 0.63 × to 0.77 ×. Measure that input from a document rather than from memory, and treat Residual NAV 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.
Interpreting the RVPI verdict
Nobody acts on a bare figure — they act on a figure with a comparison attached. On the example inputs the band reads “Still 70% of paid-in capital carried as valuation opinion”; your own figures place you on a different rung of the same ladder. The sensitivity list shows how far a modest input error moves you along that ladder: for Paid-in capital, ±10 % covers 0.63 × to 0.77 ×. The practical reading rules: read the band as a starting hypothesis, then test it: change the two dominant inputs by ten percent and see whether the verdict survives. Verdicts that survive stress are the ones worth acting on.
The comparison worth making is not with somebody else’s RVPI but with the version of your own situation measured last quarter — same formula, same conventions, different inputs.
Common mistakes with RVPI (and the fix)
Private marks are stale and smoothed by design — discount RVPI toward comparable public multiples before believing it. 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.
Reusing an RVPI from last season. In Business & Entrepreneurship the inputs are the thing that drifts; the formula does not.
One mistake is specific to this engine: assuming every input matters equally. The computation above shows Paid-in capital dominating — a careful figure there beats false precision everywhere else.
A final trap is presentation: reporting RVPI 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.
A quick check for any RVPI figure
- Check that every field the formula needs actually arrived from a document, not from recollection.
- Confirm the example values are plausible for your own situation before replacing them.
- Re-verify Paid-in capital against a source document — ten percent of error there moves the headline by ≈11.1 %.
- Record the date and the inputs alongside the number so future-you knows what was assumed.
- State, in one sentence, which convention each rate, unit or period in the form is using.
- Repeat the ±10 % test on the inputs that matter and see whether the decision — not just the number — still holds.
Five steps from raw inputs to a figure you can defend
The tool does the arithmetic; the routine below is what makes the arithmetic trustworthy. Five steps, a minute total — and afterwards you will know not just what the number is, but which assumption produced it.
Step 1 — one document, one pass. Open the statement, label or record that holds paid-in capital ($), residual nav ($) and transcribe straight into the form. Transcription from a single source removes the mismatch errors that appear when figures are assembled from three different places. If the verdict changes with a ten-percent nudge, report the nudge alongside the number.
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. Half of a good calculation is knowing which input you would hate to be wrong about.
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. Half of a good calculation is knowing which input you would hate to be wrong about.
Step 4 — ask what would have to be true. Take the result you want and work backwards through the inputs until you find the assumption that produces it; then decide honestly whether that assumption is defensible. A result worth acting on survives having its two shakiest inputs halved.
Step 5 — write the one-line memo. “RVPI = 0.70 × 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. If the answer changes your behaviour, it deserves a second run with different assumptions.
Who actually uses RVPI — and when
In Startup Metrics the figure computed here is usually the first one somebody asks to see. Having it — with the formula behind it — changes your position in the conversation from participant to reference. 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 RVPI, reject what fails, and only then bring in the expensive analysis for the survivors. The test of a good estimate is not that it feels right but that it changes what you do.
There is a personal-administration use people overlook: periodic self-checking. RVPI 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. The input you reach for first is usually the one you measured longest ago.
People also ask about RVPI
What affects RVPI 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 RVPI recalculated — Paid-in capital moved it furthest, by roughly 11.1 % (0.63 × to 0.77 ×).
Which matters more: residual nav or paid-in capital?
Paid-in capital, by a factor of about 1.1. Concretely: ten percent on Paid-in capital is worth ≈11.1 % of RVPI, the same nudge on Residual NAV only ≈10.0 %. That ranking is re-computed for each page from that page’s own defaults.
What is a typical RVPI?
With the example inputs on this page the result is 0.70 ×, labelled “Still 70% of paid-in capital carried as valuation opinion”. “Typical” varies with situation, which is why every result here ships with its verdict band and its sensitivity list: they turn one figure into a range you can locate yourself inside.
How do I calculate RVPI by hand?
Three steps: write the formula (RVPI = unrealized NAV ÷ paid-in capital), insert your values, and simplify. The worked example section shows exactly that chain for the default inputs; replicating it once on paper teaches you more about RVPI than any number of calculator runs.
What happens to RVPI if paid-in capital changes by 10 %?
On these inputs a ±10 % change in paid-in capital takes RVPI to 0.63 × against the 0.70 × example — around 11.1 % of the headline. The same test on every other field is in the sensitivity section.
Is the RVPI result of 0.70 × good or bad?
Neither, on its own — the label “Still 70% of paid-in capital carried as valuation opinion” is the band this figure falls in for the example inputs, and your own inputs will place you elsewhere on the same ladder. Judge the number against your history and your alternatives, and remember that a ten-percent error in Paid-in capital alone moves it by ≈11.1 %.
How do I calculate RVPI manually?
Write down the inputs, then follow the printed steps in order — RVPI = unrealized NAV ÷ paid-in capital. A spreadsheet replicates it with two or three cells. The manual route is worth doing once to build intuition; after that the calculator saves time and eliminates transcription slips.
Can RVPI be negative or empty?
Yes, and that is informative rather than broken: a negative RVPI usually means the inputs encode an outflow or a shortfall, and the verdict band above labels exactly that situation instead of hiding it.
What is a good RVPI at year ten?
A shrinking one; RVPI 0.8 with DPI 0.4 in year ten deserves hard questions.
Does it include follow-on capital?
Paid-in includes all calls, so heavy reserves depress RVPI relative to deployment.
Does this RVPI 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.
What the labels on this page mean
- NAV per paid dollar
- 0.70 on the example inputs — a companion figure printed beside the headline of RVPI so that no result is read in isolation.
- Mark haircut to zero out a 2.5× TVPI at DPI 0.4
- 84.0 % on the example inputs — a companion figure printed beside the headline of RVPI so that no result is read in isolation.
- Years for marks to double at 15% NAV growth
- 5.0 for the RVPI worked case; it sits next to the main result because it carries context the headline leaves out.
- RVPI
- The primary output of this tool: 0.70 × for the default inputs, computed exactly from RVPI = unrealized NAV ÷ paid-in capital.
- Worked example
- The calculation written out in full so that nothing on this page has to be taken on trust.
- Verdict band
- A named zone on the range of plausible results; the example inputs land in “Still 70% of paid-in capital carried as valuation opinion”, and your inputs may not.
- Sensitivity (±10 %)
- How far the RVPI moves when a single input is nudged ten percent either way; the ranked list on this page is computed live from this engine.
Where the RVPI model comes from
Everything above runs on one stated formula, applied without hidden coefficients: RVPI = unrealized NAV ÷ paid-in capital. Source of record: ILPA reporting standards. Where a professional version of this calculation differs, it differs in inputs and jurisdiction-specific coefficients, not in the algebra — which is why re-checking your inputs beats hunting for a second calculator.
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 RVPI into a decision
Re-run the calculation with your own figures, stress the two most sensitive inputs by ±10 %, and only then act on the result.
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.