Legal Checklist for Startups
by Scott Edward Walker on November 2nd, 2011I’ve been a corporate lawyer for 17+ years, and there are certain fundamental legal mistakes that I’ve seen startups repeatedly make. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to provide a simple checklist for startups, which includes links to prior posts for a more detailed discussion. (This post was originally published as part of the “Ask the Attorney” series I am writing for VentureBeat.)
1. Form a corporation — not an LLC (see post here) or a partnership (see post here).
2. Incorporate in Delaware and qualify the company to do business in the state in which its principal office is located (see #2 here).
3. Set-up vesting schedules for the founders (see post here) and file 83(b) elections with the IRS (see #3 here).
4. Button-down IP ownership and assignment issues (see post here).
5. Split the equity based on prior contributions and expectations going forward, not necessarily equally (see post here).
6. If you hire any employees, make sure you don’t misclassify them as an independent contractor or fail to pay them at least the minimum wage (see post here).
7. Only raise funds from “accredited investors” (see post here) and don’t pay anyone a commission for raising funds for you unless they are a registered broker-dealer (see post here).
8. Put proper privacy policies in place and make sure you adhere to them (see post here).
9. Don’t issue stock options unless a proper option plan is in place and a valuation has been done in compliance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (see post here).
10. Don’t give your lawyers equity (see post here); don’t use your investors’ lawyers (see post here); and there are ways of cutting legal fees in half (see post here).
None of this is rocket science. But as the late, great super-lawyer and VC Craig Johnson wrote in the book, The Silicon Valley Edge: A Habitat for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, “Starting companies is a lot like launching rockets: if you’re a tenth of a degree off at launch, you may be a thousand miles off downrange.”
Tags: 409A, 83(b) election, accredited investors, checklist for startups, corporate lawyer, equity, IP ownership, legal checklist, legal fees, stock options, vesting schedules
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