Welcome to The Founder Memo
Getting funded is a thrill. Legal is not.
Why did you start a startup?
At the core, you probably started a startup for two primary reasons:
To make people’s lives easier through innovative products
To raise money and, eventually, to exit (through an acquisition or IPO)
There’s plenty of advice online on the first point.
This newsletter focuses on the second point – from a legal perspective.
What’s law got to do with it?
Pitching investors, talking metrics, negotiating valuation, and getting funded – this is what comes to mind when thinking about raising money.
But hiding somewhere deep in the midst of all this are elusive legal concepts – due diligence, IP protection, and board seats.
These are the latent ticking time bombs.
When founders start, they don’t care about these things. Then it comes time to fundraise.
And that’s when the uncomfortable conversations take place, the legal bill starts racking up, and what otherwise should have been a quick raise draws on for months and months. Or falls flat on its face.
Reverse-engineer your rounds
To supercharge your funding rounds – and your eventual exit – you need to be aware of the important matters from Day 1.
That’s where this newsletter comes in.
Every so often, you’ll get tactical tips and insights on legal matters delivered to your inbox about various parts of your business – setting up a company, hiring people, granting equity, keeping records, etc. – all geared toward one goal:
helping you raise money – and, eventually, exit – in less time, for less fees.
A cup of coffee can save your startup
Grab a cup of coffee, click open the email, and start sipping and reading.
Inside, you’ll find easy-to-read, bite-sized content that’s written for the founder and helps you avoid mistakes that can cost you time, money – or even your startup:
Fundamentals about legal concepts
Curated tweets, posts, and videos
Tools and resources
Highlighted founders, lawyers, and investors
You’ll be done with the newsletter before you’re done with your coffee (well, maybe unless it’s an espresso).
Your barista-at-law,
Stepan
A bit about me: I’m a former corporate lawyer with 10+ years of experience helping 100s of companies navigate the legal journey, including early-stage startups and unicorns. I quit my private practice to start Corpora and help founders raise money faster and more affordably.
