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Dear Founders: Here Are Three IP Mistakes to Watch-Out For

Scott Edward Walker

Over the past six months, my firm has been engaged by a number of startups with significant intellectual property (“IP”) problems. In a couple of cases, the founders played lawyer on their own; in the other cases, the founders either used (i) a Web service that did not address IP issues or (ii) an inexperienced law firm.

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4 Deadly Legal Mistakes That Startups Make

Scott Edward Walker

Vesting Restrictions. The first deadly mistake relates to vesting restrictions. In addition, sometimes a portion of the shares will be deemed to be vested “up front” – meaning that they are not subject to vesting — particularly where a founder has made a significant contribution prior to the company’s incorporation.

Vesting 89
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Opinion: It’s a startup world

NZ Entrepreneur

When an employee is not the right fit that person needs to be moved on quickly (kindly and legally) for everyone’s sake, but most acutely because there is very little latitude in a startup for anything slowing progress. This equity will vest over 2-3 years. 0.75% for directors and 1-2% for the chair.

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Do It Right The First Time: Avoiding “Janitorial” Legal Work

Gust

Notice what is missing from this list of priorities: The company itself – that is, a business entity, most often a corporation , that will own the entire business (however defined), issue equity to founders, take investment capital , enter into contracts, make sales, pay employees and contractors, and so forth. Good stuff!

IP 114
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How to Divide Founder Equity: 4 Criteria to Discuss

View from Seed

You don’t really need to worry about how much common stock will be set aside for an employee option pool or how much preferred stock might be issued from raising future VC rounds in order to determine an equitable founder stock division. Ideation/IP. Sometimes, however, there’s an existing code base that one co-founder brings.

Equity 315
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4 Different Lawyers That Entrepreneurs Need

The Startup Magazine

As you are forming your new business, creating new products and hiring new employees as your company grows developing new materials, you will encounter scenarios where you need to create, review, and sign contracts. Contract Lawyer. Therefore, it’s often a good idea to hire a contract lawyer to have on retainer. Employment Lawyer.

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Punch & Pie: How Should Co-Founders Divide Equity?

Agile VC

You don’t really need to worry about how much common stock will be set aside for an employee option pool or how much preferred stock might be issued from raising future VC rounds in order to determine an equitable founder stock division. Sometimes, however, there’s an existing code base that one co-founder brings.

Cofounder 255