What does this mean?
You’re not yet incorporated and you’re just beginning your startup journey.
At this stage, it is important to understand the future legal questions you will have to answer and to make the right initial decisions to get off on the right foot. The best way to do this is to have an overview of what to look out for, thanks to our LEXR Standard Master Checklist.
What should I do on the legal side?
Corporate
- Set up a Founder Collaboration Agreement.
- Understand how the Incorporation process works and what type of a company you want to incorporate.
Regulatory
- Find out if your project is regulated. Check the Financial markets regulatory perspective.
- Determine how you want to address regulatory risks and understand any applicable sector-specific regulatory frameworks you need to be aware of. Learn more in our Regulatory Intro.
IP
- Get everyone who has worked with the (future) company to sign an IP assignment. You can learn more about IP ownership & IP assignment and generate one for free with our free document generator.
Contracts
- If you have already started the Incorporation process and are entering into contracts “for” the company before the process is completed (i.e., before the company is formally registered), you can enter into the contract for “Company ABC in incorporation.” This will automatically transfer all rights and obligations to the company once it is officially registered.
HR
- At this stage it is mainly a matter of fulfilling your pre-existing obligations. This is especially important if you’re still employed when you start your startup journey. In this case, you must avoid violating your non-compete and confidentiality obligations.
- Choose your lawyer. You can change in the future, but it is important to have expert and pragmatic advice from the start. Schedule a free call with us.