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Startup Lawyer

startuplawyer.com

Startup lawyer guidance for founders on term sheets, seed funding, SAFEs, convertible notes, venture capital, and M&A. From formation to exit.

Society / politics / economy

’10’15’20’25
Posts
203 from 11 Dec 2006 to 9 May 2026
Posting
weekly (35 in the last year)
Kind
company blog
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2026 35

  1. Working With a Startup Lawyer
  2. The Startup Acquisition Process Guide
  3. Startup Board of Directors Guide
  4. The Startup Commercial Contracts Guide
  5. Intellectual Property for Startups
  6. The Ultimate Startup Hiring Guide
  7. Venture Capital Term Sheet Survival Guide
  8. Seed Funding: Complete SAFEs vs Notes Guide
  9. Startup Equity 101: Splits and Vesting
  10. Startup Incorporation: The Complete Guide
  11. Founder Employment Agreements in Exits
  12. Founder Secondary: Liquidity and Signaling
  13. The Ultimate Pre-Incorporation Checklist
  14. Board Composition: Sticky Control Shifts
  15. Escrow and Holdback in Startup M&A
  16. Venture Studio Taking 50% Equity for $0: Half Your Company for Promises
  17. Protective Provisions: Congratulations, You Need Permission
  18. Information Rights: Reporting Creep and the “CFO-by-Investor” Trap
  19. The Difference Between a Diligence Issue and a Deal‑Breaker in Venture Financings
  20. Online Cap Tables: Great Tools, Real Limits
  21. Pay-to-Play: The “Fairness” Term That’s Really a Squeeze
  22. SAFE vs. Convertible Note: Leverage You Didn’t Mean to Give Away
  23. What Is an Incorporator? The Most Important Person for 10 Minutes in Your Startup Formation
  24. Board Observers: Non‑Voting Doesn’t Mean Harmless
  25. Founder Loans: How to Avoid Cap Table Poison
  26. A “Clean Cap Table” Doesn’t Mean What You Think
  27. Crosby.AI and the (Possible) Return of the Two-Entity Structured “Law Firm of the Future”
  28. When to Say No to Investment Money
  29. 280G in Startup Acquisitions: What Founders Actually Need to Know
  30. 409A Valuations: Why They Exist and What They’re Not
  31. What an LOI Actually Does (and What It Doesn’t) in a Startup Acquisition
  32. When a Founder Is Also a Professor: Customizing a Confidential Information and Inventions Assignment Without Tripping Over University Rules
  33. Par Value for Startup Stock: What It Is, What to Set It At, and Why It Matters
  34. Multiple Classes of Common Stock: Power, Perception, and Practical Limits
  35. AI Didn’t Kill Startup Lawyers. It Just Gave Everyone Better Tools.

2024 1

  1. Venture Capital Bridge Extension Round Structures

2021 1

  1. How to Check Availability and Reserve Your Startup’s Name in Delaware

2020 1

  1. Importance of Using Exact Share Numbers Instead of Percentages

2019 4

  1. Sorry, Not Sorry: Still Delaware C Corporation for Early-Stage Tech Companies
  2. Acceleration Book Update – 1 Month
  3. Acceleration Startup Law Book Title and Cover Design
  4. So I wrote a Startup Law Book called “Acceleration”

2018 1

  1. Voting Rights of Vesting Shares

2017 1

  1. U.S. VC Process for Indian Startups

2016 3

  1. Accelerator Investments Should Be Convertible Equity
  2. Right of First Refusal in Company Bylaws
  3. Convertible Note Maturity Date Terms

2015 4

  1. Dual Class Common Stock Structure for Founders
  2. How to Survive a Co-Founder Divorce while at an Accelerator
  3. Accelerator Demo Days and General Solicitation
  4. Crowdfunding Should Be Used as a Last Resort

2014 9

  1. Unintended Consequences of a Long Additional Closing Period
  2. Introducing the Startup Law Glossary
  3. Why Seed Round Due Diligence Should Not Start Too Early
  4. Why Your Current Employer Invention Assignment is Key
  5. When Majority of the Board Doesn’t Mean Board Control
  6. If I Launched a Startup in 2014
  7. How Many Shares Should be Issued to Founders at Incorporation?
  8. Startup Advisor Agreement: A Primer on the Basics
  9. Advisor Stock Option Grants

2013 9

  1. Startups Should Invest in a Quality Scanner
  2. The Standard Financing Document Pipe Dream
  3. SAFE Seed Financing Documents
  4. Of Mice and Mentors
  5. Glorified Employees
  6. Accelerator Documents for Startups Should Be Easy
  7. Should Your Startup Close a Small Seed Round Prior to Accelerator Pitch Day?
  8. The Rolling Close
  9. Price Cap Liquidation Preference Windfall Regulators

2012 5

  1. Convertible Note Transaction Documents
  2. Outsourcing Software Development: Riding the Elephant
  3. Convertible Note Interest: What is the Range?
  4. Avoid Offensive Liquidation Preferences
  5. Delaware Franchise Taxes

2011 4

  1. Top 5 Worst Seed Round Terms For Startups
  2. Non-Dilution Rights are Wrong
  3. How to Evaluate a Startup Accelerator Offer
  4. Term Sheet Purgatory

2010 27

  1. The $10,000 Sentence
  2. November Rain
  3. Why a Finder is a Loser
  4. Accelerator Mentors over Money (and Office Space)
  5. Dealing with a Startup Creeper
  6. Convertible Note Term Sheets
  7. Keeping a Seed Financing Round Open
  8. Update to Accredited Investor Definition
  9. Filing a Charter Is Not a Startup Incorporation
  10. Angels Asking For Control
  11. The Convertible Note Discount and Price Cap
  12. Series A Startup CEO Salary
  13. The When to Incorporate Decision-Matrix
  14. If I Launched a Startup
  15. Model Seed Funding Doc Myths
  16. It Is Not Your Baby Anymore
  17. Never Ever Ever Ever Pay to Pitch
  18. White-Label Mobile App Users: Who Owns Them?
  19. The 5-Second Guide to Choosing Your Startup’s Legal Entity
  20. Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start
  21. Should a Founder License IP to a Startup?
  22. Lockdown Lost-Founder IP
  23. What are ISOs?
  24. How to Protect Directors on Your Startup’s Board
  25. 25102(f) Notice: Only in California
  26. What is Four Years With a One Year Cliff?
  27. The Delaware Franchise Taxes Freak-Out

2009 23

  1. What is a Fully-Diluted Basis?
  2. What Happens to the Option Pool if a Startup is Acquired?
  3. How to Set a Convertible Note Discount
  4. How Convertible Debt Works
  5. Accountants Heart LLCs
  6. White-Label is the New Black for Startups
  7. Is a Term Sheet Binding?
  8. How to Split the Startup Founder Equity Pie
  9. How to Handle Startup Idea Theft
  10. 5 Common Founder Mistakes
  11. Is Your Startup’s Name Available in Delaware?
  12. Don’t Create an “Issuance Pool”
  13. Should Your Startup Hire a Finder?
  14. What is an Option Pool?
  15. You Can’t Spell Corporation Without “IP”
  16. What is a Registered Agent?
  17. The 83(b) Election For Startup Founders
  18. Don’t Oversmart Your Startup’s Business Plan
  19. What is a Liquidation Preference?
  20. Stock for Fees
  21. Should Your Startup Lawyer Get a Finder’s Fee?
  22. Should your Startup Lawyer also be a Director?
  23. Skip the LLC

2008 32

  1. Selling Your Startup with Convertible Debt
  2. Don’t Hate On Your VC For Exercising Anti-Dilution Provisions
  3. The Basics of Convertible Debt Financing
  4. Preferred Stock: Where “F” in a Class Can Equal Success
  5. I Got a Term Sheet, Now What?
  6. 7 Legal Documents for Your Tech Startup
  7. Don’t Go Crazy with Complex Rounds of Seed Funding
  8. Par Value for a Startup Company’s Stock
  9. How Many Shares of Authorized Stock Should a Startup Company have at Incorporation?
  10. How I Launched My Startup (Law Firm) 2016 Update
  11. When To Fire a Startup Company’s Founder-CEO
  12. The Entrepreneur Also Rises
  13. Shouldn’t the Standardization of Venture Capital Documents Lead to Reduced Legal Fees?
  14. Keep the Bridge Burning to a Minimum
  15. What is a Pre-money and Post-money Valuation?
  16. You Can’t Polish a Sneaker
  17. A Primer on LLCs
  18. Why Startups are a Corporation for Venture Capital
  19. What is a Private Placement?
  20. How to Incorporate Your Sole Proprietorship
  21. What is Preferred Stock?
  22. How to Issue Weak Preferred Stock to Friends & Family
  23. Why Your Startup’s Founders Stock Should Vest Over Time
  24. Reverse Breakup Fees: Making Acquisitions Less Risky for the Selling Company
  25. Series FF Stock: How Some Founders Get Liquid at Funding
  26. Flipping Your International Startup for U.S. Venture Capital
  27. Life is Too Short to Deal with Non-Accredited Investors
  28. What Venture Capital Investors Want in a Term Sheet
  29. How Much to Pay Your Startup Lawyer
  30. Generate Goodwill Instead of Burning a Bridge
  31. You’re Nobody Till Somebody Steals Your Startup Idea
  32. Don’t Be Coy With a Letter of Intent

2007 36

  1. How To Handle Intellectual Property When Buying A Business
  2. The Deal Behind Letters of Intent
  3. Your Advisor’s Invention Agreements: A Potential Startup Killer
  4. How to Avoid Being Ripped Off When You Lease Office Space, Part III
  5. Get a Deal Done with a Go Shop Clause
  6. Keep Your Startup Co-Founder Closer
  7. Why a VC Will Take a Lighter to Your NDA
  8. How to Avoid Being Ripped Off When You Lease Office Space, Part II
  9. Fixed Fees: A Must Have When You Hire a Law Firm
  10. Funding Your Buy-Sell Agreement For All Scenarios
  11. 6 Traps To Avoid When Raising Capital
  12. Getting Subpoenaed Does Not Make You a Target–Just Be Sure to Tell the Truth
  13. How to Make Sure Your Startup Company Will Fail
  14. Why Giving Your Employees Phantom Stock Can Boost Your Company
  15. Why Customizing Your Startup Documents to Your Industry is a Mistake
  16. Why Your Startup Company Needs to Keep the Number of its Investors Low
  17. How to Make a Late Election for S-Corporation Status
  18. Top 5 Reasons to Incorporate in Delaware
  19. How to Know You Have Found a Great Startup Lawyer
  20. How to Avoid Being Ripped Off When You Lease Office Space, Part I
  21. The Scoop on Franchise Royalty Fees
  22. When to Use an Anti-raiding Provision
  23. Please Do Not Hire Google, Esq.
  24. Buy-Sell Agreements: The Stock Redemption Plan
  25. Buy-Sell Agreements: The Cross-Purchase
  26. Why Every Entrepreneur Should Listen to 2Pac
  27. What is a Leveraged Buyout?
  28. Negotiate the Basket
  29. Drug Testing Your Employees
  30. Using a No Shop Clause in a Letter of Intent
  31. Why Bylaws are Important for Your New Company
  32. Draft a Complete Employment Contract
  33. Leasing Office Space
  34. Prevention Always Makes Cents, Part II
  35. Prevention Always Makes Cents
  36. Friends Can Be Bad Business Partners

2006 7

  1. Call Your First Organizational Meeting Sooner than Later
  2. Where to Incorporate
  3. Choosing a Name for Your Business: Stick with It
  4. When to Use an Earnout Provision
  5. Watching Your Client Overleverage an Acquisition
  6. Include Confidentiality Clause in Letter of Intent
  7. Every Situation is Unique When Choosing an Entity