All stages
⚖️Stage 09
Legal & Compliance
Protect your entity, IP, and cap table.
7 lessons17 operating guides
Lessons
Expand any topic for concept, action steps, and pro tips.
Concept
Company Registration & Incorporation: legal is risk management. Get structure right early (entity, IP assignment, vesting) and stay proportional.
Why it matters
Foundational mistakes (IP ownership, no vesting, messy contractor IP) are expensive to unwind.
Action steps
- 1Confirm entity type and jurisdiction with a startup-savvy lawyer.
- 2Ensure IP assignment from founders and contractors is signed.
- 3Implement vesting for all equity holders.
- 4Ship basic Privacy Policy and Terms before collecting real user data.
- 5Map data flows if you touch EU/UK personal data.
- 6Use templates for early docs; customize only where risk is high.
Done when
Entity, IP, and vesting are clean enough that a seed investor would not flinch.
Metrics
- · Signed IP assignments %
- · Vesting in place
- · Policy pages live
Anti-patterns
- · Copy-pasting random TOS
- · Verbal equity promises
- · Ignoring data protection until enterprise deal
Operator tip
Pay for a few hours of great counsel on structure; save money by not inventing custom securities.
Tools
ClerkyStripe AtlasStartup lawyerNotion policy docs
Stage quiz
legal readiness (fundamentals baseline)
5 questions · pass at 70%
1.A startup is best described as:
2.The best early focus is usually:
3.Co-founder equity should typically include:
4.An MVP primarily tests:
5.A strong PMF signal is:
Answer all questions to score.