

Free, high-quality legal docs to get your startup started - wdaher
http://www.goodwinfoundersworkbench.com/document-driver/

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bpm140
I have launched several tech startups (one acquired by Yahoo) with a senior
partner now at Goodwin Proctor. They did all my docs for my current venture. A
couple thoughts:

1) Goodwin proctor is super respected and they're not going to put together
some shitty docs. I've _used_ shitty docs and it's a nightmare. 2) As a
previous poster said, these won't answer the whys, just the hows. That said,
if you plan on creating a venture- or angel-backed company, you're going to
want a Delaware C-Corp. 3) Damn, I wish these had been released three months
ago. I love my atty, but I'd still rather not pay him for ginning up docs.
This is MUCH better.

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russellallen
Just as a word of warning: these documents are for starting a Delaware
company. Don't rely on them if that's not what you're after.

Also these forms deal with low level technical questions but not the real
questions a lawyer should be able to help you with: when and why should you
incorporate? What is the real deal between you and your co-founders? How is
that deal expressed? What are the traps to be wary of?

Using legal documents you don't understand the implications of could lead to
to the legal equivalent of software put together by a non-programmer based on
google searches of examples of VB code.

(IANAUSL - I am not a US lawyer :)

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wdaher
Agreed on all counts. That said, if you're a tech startup in the US, you
almost certainly want to be incorporating in Delaware regardless.

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carbocation
Is Delaware > Nevada for this purpose?

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gacba
Some more specifics about Delaware:
[http://startuplawyer.com/incorporation/top-5-reasons-to-
inco...](http://startuplawyer.com/incorporation/top-5-reasons-to-incorporate-
in-delaware)

Most important among them for (larger) corporations: judges decide cases, not
juries, making less of a "wildcard" for litigation.

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ipince
Does anybody know how being a non-US citizen affects incorporation?

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gasull
Any lawyer here who can evaluate the validity of these documents?

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wdaher
To be clear, I have no affiliation with Goodwin Procter, but for what it's
worth, they are a large and well-respected law firm (cf.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwin_Procter>)

Of course, as with anything like this, nothing you read online is going to be
a complete substitute for a lawyer. But brushing up on the requirements
beforehand will at least make your eventual lawyer conversations more
productive, because you can just cut to the chase.

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mcobrien
This is good news for startups and I'm sure great for Goodwin Proctor. Nice to
see the freemium model working in the legal profession.

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KevinKaske
It seems that if someone would make something like this work with a few more
states then Delaware. They could charge a small amount to use this app. Seems
very useful.

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zackb
that's so risky... laymen cannot draft those types of documents, no matter how
sophisticated a computer program... At least not in most cases...

I still like the idea though, free legal forms

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kapilkaisare
Does anyone know of a similar resource for startups in India?

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random42
<http://novojuris.com/>, Not for free though,

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bmelton
If I incorporate S-Corp for the tax benefit, is it problematic to raise
capital later? I've seen that VCs prefer Delaware (which this all seems to
be), but I haven't seen anything in particular where they prefer C or S-Corp.

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Scott_MacGregor
All the S means is you file a request with the IRS to be taxed differently
from the C, which is the default. The actual entity does not change, it is a
tax issue. Also, with the S election you cannot raise investor money, only the
C can raise money.

