Paying legal fees and organizing paperwork are not typically entrepreneurs’ favorite things to do. However, getting things in order now will help you avoid headaches in the future like tracking down a signature from an investor hiking in Peru with a 24-hour deadline for an acquisition offer, fighting a claim on your IP from the employer of the developer you hired on the side for the first month of your company, or paying tens of thousands of dollars in taxes for a misfiling with the IRS. All true stories.
First and foremost, I’d recommend making sure you have the best lawyer for your startup. I’ve shared tips on how to do that in this blog post. Then, I’d suggest using the following step-by-step guide to create one organized home for all of your legal documents. This guide will help you organize the documents required by MergeLane and many other early- and later-stage investors, lenders and acquirers.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Organize Your Documents
General document tips:
eShares Inc.:
I highly recommend signing up for eShares inc to make your and your investors’ lives much, much easier.
A few specific folder suggestions:
“Employee Matters” – Create subfolders for each employee to house all copies of employee agreements.
“Securities Issuances and Agreements":
I allowed myself to include all of my “ridiculous” wants and aspirations on my list of 2023 goals, one of which was “finding a coach and co-collaborator who would agree to hold meetings from the chairlift.” Believe it or not, I was actually able to manifest that.
Read more ➞It is amazing what you can achieve if you get out of your own way.
Read more ➞I have learned the important lesson that being mediocre at anything is not a “safe” path to success. I now realize that the “safe” path for others may not be the best route for me.
Read more ➞In investing, and in life in general, an ability to foresee potential pitfalls has served me well. However, being able to see what can go wrong can prevent me from seizing an opportunity. I sometimes forget that most of my successes have been the result of seemingly impossible feats.
Read more ➞