As a new startup founder, when is the right time to start working with a lawyer?
Launching a startup is an exciting journey. You have a brilliant idea, a vision that could change the game. But amidst the excitement of bringing your idea to life, legal matters often take a back seat. Who wants to deal with contracts and regulation…
Funding Term Sheet: Guidance and Tips - Webinar, Members Only Feb 28, 2024 4.30pm
This is a members only webinar, where our co-founder Simon Davies will speak about the funding term sheet, the first document to kick off a fundraise. Sign up to any one of our packages to participate!
Key Legal Steps to Grow your Startup 0-100 in 2024 - Free Webinar, Feb 23rd, 2024 12pm
In this webinar, Simon Davies, our co-founder and startup legal expert, provides valuable insights and practical strategies on how to grow your startup through your legal documents and deals. The key topics that will be covered include:How to effecti…
Trademark: why, what and how?
What is a trademark?A trade mark is typically your company name. The primary function of a trademark is to distinguish your products and/or services from those of another company, especially from those of competitors. Your trade mark is the…
Shareholder register: what it is and why you need to keep it
It is a statutory requirement in the UK for UK companies to keep a register of their shareholders, including the details of all shareholders, when they became shareholders, and details of any of their dealings with their shares – e.g. details of tran…
B2B: Selling to businesses and the contracts you need
If you’re a B2B model business, then the odds are when you make a sale, your business customer is expecting to receive a contract which they can sign to seal the deal.From your perspective as the supplier, you want to ensure that every time a custome…
Giving equity to early stage staff: considerations for startup founders
Nowadays, with more and more individuals wanting to feel ownership over what they do as a key facet of job satisfaction, the question of equity becomes a pertinent one in almost any startup. So as an entrepreneur, or as a staff member in a start…
How to get GDPR compliant: quick guide
GDPR (the general data protection regulation) is an EU level law which is aimed at protecting people’s personal information* and stopping businesses abusing it. The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK’s implementation of EU GDPR regulation. *Pers…
3 Simple steps to make a legally compliant website
In many ways, it is your website that legitimises and kick-starts a business in its early stages. Once you have your website, you can direct people to it, you can print your business cards, you can link it up to your Gmail and have your “@business.co…
Working with agencies: top 5 points to cover
When working with agencies (e.g. design or marketing agency), you will generally be working with a bigger operation than with a freelancer. This will most likely increase time and energy spent on dealing with different people and making sure that all…
Website and app developer agreement: Top 5 points to cover
Hiring a web or app developer is quite important for startups. You are finally going to bring your idea to life. So you need to take extra care to ensure the people you entrust with bringing it to life for/with you are properly contracted to deliver …
NDAs: top 5 reasons to use them
What is an NDA?NDAs (or non-disclosure agreements) is a legal contract that ensures that certain information shared between parties is kept secret. The person or organisation you share the information with can not legally disclose that information to…
Squad goals: hire a freelancer
Thanks for visiting Legal Sidekick - you can create your freelancer services agreement here.Why you need a freelancer agreementIt’s no coincidence that the rise of the gig economy and global networks of freelancers are coinciding with the boom of sta…
The essential contracts to build your startup team
Welcome to Legal Sidekick - your legal guide through your startup journey. Create your startup team contracts with us today.From the minute someone else is working with or for you on your startup, you are building your team. Having a team does not eq…
Issuing shares: calculations and process
New shares calculationsTypically, issuing shares should be done in the context of investments, and share options.The big question is: how do you calculate the number of new shares that need to be issued? Here's the answer.If you have 1,000 shares and…
Do I transfer shares or issue new ones?
Welcome to Legal Sidekick, where we guide you through the legal part of developing your startup. With our automated startup documents, you can easily manage everything legal for your startup (including for shares) in a hassle-free, reliable way. Get …
Introducing SEIS and EIS for startups
What's SEIS and EIS? SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) and EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) tax reliefs are amazing ways for startups to sweeten the deal for investors by making tax relief available to them on their investment.SEIS Tax relie…
How to transfer shares
Nobody is expecting you to be an expert on company shares, all their different types, variations and nuances. As a startup founder, you need just to know the key basic principles of what shares are, and how they are issued, managed and transferred. O…
Quick guide to reverse vesting for co-founders
What is reverse vesting? Reverse Vesting is the process by which the right to continue holding shares is earned in agreed proportions over a period of time, or based on performance or some other milestone, or a combination of the three. The most…
Co-founder agreement: 12 essential points
If you want to enter into a co-founder agreement with your co-founder then that is good news. It means you are both/all committed to having a professionally regulated relationship, even if you are close friends or family, and it is a good sign for yo…
Setting up a UK limited company: no frills guide (including shares calculation)
Do you need a lawyer? You don’t need a lawyer to register a company. This is something you can do independently. You can complete the registration through Companies House, but first, make sure you have everything lined up as set out below.Is the comp…
Employment contract: what you need to know
It is a legal requirement that all employment relationships between employee and company are governed by a legally binding employment contract, setting out the terms of the employment. So, you need to have an employment contract in place if you’re hi…