I've spent years closing real estate deals — millions on the line, complex structures, high-pressure negotiations. When I moved into startup investing, I assumed the skills would transfer.

They do. But only if you know the translation.

The language is different. "Liquidation preference" instead of "lien priority." "Anti-dilution" instead of "price protection." "Cap table" instead of "title report." The concepts are the same — the vocabulary throws people off, and that's where first-time investors get taken advantage of.

Here's what I see go wrong most often:

1. Confusing pre-money and post-money valuation. This single mistake can cost you 3-5% ownership. I've seen it happen to smart people.

2. Ignoring liquidation preferences. A 2x participating preferred with cumulative dividends means the investor needs a massive exit before the founder sees a dime. Most founders don't realize this until it's too late.

3. Not understanding the option pool shuffle. Investors insist the option pool comes from pre-money, quietly diluting founders by 5-10% before a single new share is issued. Completely legal and completely avoidable — if you know what to look for.

4. Failing to build leverage before the negotiation. The deal is won or lost before anyone sits down at the table.

I built Term Sheet Mastery to fix this. It's a 6-chapter, 17-lesson course that covers every clause in a standard term sheet, with real estate parallels throughout so the concepts click immediately if you've done property deals.

If you're about to negotiate your first (or tenth) term sheet, this will save you from expensive mistakes.