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Startups Contract Terms

Pillsbury - Propel

How to Split Equity Between Co-Founders (and Stay Friends)

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Starting a company with someone is like entering into a high-stakes relationship that blends money, vision and emotions. Like any relationship, it requires trust, communication and clear boundaries to thrive, and one of the...more

Potomac Law Group, PLLC

When SAFEs Get Complicated: Hidden Pitfalls in Early-Stage Financing

Last month, a startup’s Series A nearly fell apart when investors and founders realized their different calculation methods produced a $750,000 variance. The culprit was not deception or bad faith, but rather a complex...more

WilmerHale

Post-Mortem on the FTC’s Blocked Non-Compete Rule

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In August 2024, a Texas federal court struck down a broad Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule that would have banned the vast majority of employee non-competition agreements. ...more

Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP

Money-Saving Licensing Tips for Startups

A smart approach to licensing can bring startups welcome new revenue streams and position themselves for greater wealth at exit. Procopio's Helen Goldstein provides plain-language insights on the keys to negotiating and...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Convertible Notes & SAFEs: Still Popular, But Terms Are Tightening

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Convertible instruments held steady in Q1 2025, but the terms are shifting in favor of investors. Interest rates on convertible notes rose by 200 to 300 basis points, and discount rates climbed as high as 10.5 percentage...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Your Business's Growth Blueprint: Why Solid Legal Documents Matter

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Every successful business owner has ambition to grow, scale, and take his/her company to the next level. However, there’s one critical, often overlooked aspect that can make or break a business’s ability to get to that level:...more

Pillsbury - Propel

The IP Landmine That Can Kill Your Startup’s Exit: Avoiding Common Ownership Pitfalls

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Unclear intellectual property (IP) ownership can pose significant challenges for startups, especially during a sale process (i.e., M&A) or investment rounds. Investors and buyers meticulously examine the chain of title for IP...more

IR Global

Navigating Business Law in Arizona

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From its favorable business climate to its strategic location and growing innovation ecosystem, Arizona is quickly becoming one of the best places in the U.S. to start, expand, or relocate a business....more

Ropes & Gray LLP

Considerations When Contracting with Academic Spinouts

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Due in part to the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which incentivized universities to commercialize their technology, the number of academic spinouts has grown in recent years. This is particularly true in the life sciences space,...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Legal Ninja Snapshot: #Employment Contracts: Digital Employment Contracts in Germany – But When is a Wet Ink Signature Still...

Digital Employment Contracts Are Now Generally Allowed With the new year, the Fourth Bureaucracy Reduction Act ("BEG IV") brings more flexibility by replacing the need for written form and qualified electronic signatures with...more

Goodwin

Five Areas in Which VC and Growth Equity Deal Terms Are Unique to France

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Over the past decade, France has emerged as a powerhouse in the European tech ecosystem. The surge of French unicorns, supported by the government’s “French tech” initiatives — which include tax credits and the formation of...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

My Start-Up or Emerging Franchise System Negotiated with a Prospective Franchisee! Now What?

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New and emerging franchise systems are often very eager to sign those first franchisees. All too often, they are willing to make concessions to get the franchisees on board, despite their franchise attorney’s recommendation...more

Pillsbury - Propel

The Devil’s in the Details: How a Bad Contract Can Ruin Your Startup

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In the high-stakes world of new business ventures, overlooking the smallest detail can have catastrophic consequences. This is particularly true when it comes to contracts, the very backbone of business operations. A poorly...more

Hogan Lovells

Creative teaming arrangements to jump-start early stage companies: How to create a win-win in NewSpace (UPDATED)

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Much of the buzz about NewSpace focuses on exciting space-related startups led by entrepreneurs with new ideas, young work forces, and Silicon Valley positive attitudes. This is all true, but legal practitioners in this area...more

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP

What is a Management Rights Letter?

Here’s a situation we see often when a company is negotiating a Series A financing. They’ve gotten through diligence, completed the lengthy and difficult process of negotiating, documenting and finalizing the venture...more

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP

What are IP Assignment Agreements?

For the high-growth startups we represent (and into which our venture capital clients invest), intellectual property (IP) is typically the core asset driving the company’s value. Ensuring that the company’s IP is properly...more

Barnea Jaffa Lande & Co.

Critical Considerations before Drawing up a Founders’ Agreement

When a group forms to establish a joint venture, the first legal document they should draft is a founders’ agreement. The purpose of this agreement is to define the conditions under which the entrepreneurs will establish a...more

Goodwin

The 15-Minute Founder's Guide: Series A Financing Documents

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Heading into a startup equity financing, especially the company’s first, every founder or member of the management team owes it to their stakeholders, their company and themselves to have at least a working knowledge of the...more

Lowndes

Non-disclosure agreements: A word to the wise to entrepreneurs

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​​​​​​​As a startup, one of the most exciting moments in your company’s growth is receiving a proposal from a large strategic or market player who wants to engage in a technical interchange in support of a potential business...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Bumper Crop: Cannabis Meets Business Divorce

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard that a little over two months ago, New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation reform advocates and stoners alike have dreamt of for decades,...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Getting Women Back To Work: Top 5 Tips For New Entrepreneurs

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So far during the pandemic, around 2.4 million women have left the workforce, numbers much higher than men. Yet, in a small silver lining, there have been a record number of new business applications filed across the...more

Goodwin

What You Need To Know About Negotiating A Venture Term Sheet

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For any founder, whether a first-timer or a serial entrepreneur, it’s an exciting moment when you receive a term sheet from a venture capital fund for your company’s first preferred stock financing round. Excitement aside,...more

Winstead PC

Buyer Beware: Top 10 Private Company Investor Checklist

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The private company marketplace has become increasingly attractive to investors as the number of opportunities for investment has vastly expanded. There are approximately 6 million companies in the US, but less than 1% are...more

WilmerHale

In Case You Missed It: Launch Links - July 2019 #4

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Some interesting links we found across the web this week: How Enforceable is Your Non-Compete Clause? Courts frequently hold non-compete clauses, that state that an individual cannot compete with a certain company in a...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Can a Deadlock Resolution Provision Cause Deadlock? This One Did

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This is the story of a deadlock resolution provision that backfired. It is a long story — 94 pages long to be exact. That is the length of Chancellor Bouchard’s characteristically detailed and thorough post-trial opinion...more

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