Do More Faster India, 2nd Edition

Theme Six: Legal and Structure

While team issues are one of the top startup killers, things left undocumented are a close second and can lead to fatal problems. Too many founders ignore legal and structural issues, assuming they can deal with them later. Sometimes they’re right. Sometimes they’re dead.

At Techstars, we have active early engagement from startup lawyers, accountants, and bankers. They provide free advice early in the program and make sure the companies get formed correctly. Most entrepreneurial law firms, accounting firms, and banks will do the same for your company, if you ask. In addition to being good business development activities for them because they’d love you to be their customer as you grow your business, it’s also an important and effective way for them to engage in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

We’d never recommend that you go overboard on the legal and structure issues. There are simple and cost-effective ways to do things right. Taking the time now to understand the most important issues can save your startup (and you) a great deal of pain down the road.