In this Feedback Session, startup lawyers and CEOs will explain various legal agreements, startup legal components (such as equity), cap tables, how to protect intellectual property, the best practices for managing a law firm, and more. As usual, Mentors will also provide Founders with ratings and feedback on their startup pitch and progress.

Sprints

Below are just a few of the 10-15 deliverables you’ll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:

Legal Review - Review our Legal Guide to fully understand all critical startup legal components, including granting equity, vesting equity, granting options, issuing common stock versus preferred stock, and more. If any of your existing legal structure is in conflict with these best practices, then create a plan for resolution.

Capitalization Table - Develop or improve your capitalization table (“Cap Table”) that shows the ownership structure of the business, using our template and guidelines.

Finalize Co-Founder Legal (if any) - Create a list of any co-founders, co-founder candidates or founding Team Members that you have for your Founder Institute company, and begin the next steps in formalizing the relationship.

Law Firm Engagement - If you don’t already have a law firm, meet with your law firm candidates and sign an “engagement letter” with your chosen firm.

Corporate Formation Agreements - If you don’t already have a suitable corporation, secure all of your corporate formation agreements which govern how the business conducts itself.

Equity Collective - Prepare to join the Equity Collective, and send your law firm the necessary agreements and request their help to properly fill out the required fields.

Why is it important to have a legal entity? What are the best practices in setting up a legal entity? How do you pick a law firm to work with? How do you effectively manage your law firm? What are key legal concepts that a Founder needs to understand? What are key agreements that you need to operate a technology company? How do you identify and protect your intellectual property? How do you manage regulations? How much does the law actually matter to your business?

For this "Legal & Equity" session, we have simply asked Founders to prepare specific, in-depth legal questions and to identify areas of concern related to their startup. Any guidance you can provide them would be helpful, even if you are just pointing them in the right direction to find information. All Founders have also been instructed to seek professional legal counsel, so they understand that any advice you provide is general and should not be considered a replacement for professional counsel.