SAFE agreements are common in Silicon Valley, but what are they? A SAFE agreement is simply a non-traditional financing agreement between an entrepreneur and an investor where the entrepreneur brings a little cash and a lot of ideas and intellectual property to the table. In return the investor provides funding and receives future equity from the company. As we learned earlier, bankruptcy happens frequently among small businesses which begs the question: Are SAFE agreements debt, equity or neither for both entrepreneurs and investors? Jack Russo and Zachary Tyson take a hard look at this relatively new and well used investment vehicle.