
Online forms for Business formation
There is an array of free resources available for free floating on the internet. Many are actually great templates for creating your own entity and accompanying documents. SAFE notes
Many entrepreneurs are sophisticated enough that they can draft the terms of many documents by themselves:
- Seed and Series A deals
- Warrants and Restricted Stock
- Alternative funding transactions
- Choice of business format (corporation, LLC, etc.);
- Business names and trademarks
- Time tables and costs
It is however essential to have them reviewed by an attorney for full compliance with state and Federal laws. These two are my personal favorite ones:
Clerky: https://www.clerky.com/
*Clerky allows you to draft the necessary documents for onboarding, hiring, firing, advisor agreements, and then send that draft for a review to an attorney. Daria Banerjee of The Baner Law Firm is listed as an attorney member of this service.
Carta: https://carta.com/
*Provides a more sophisticated fund raising support. A client continues to be in control of the process and an attorney reviews the process in the background.
Here are a few more examples where you can find useful agreements and information.
Startup Forms Library Tool kit with many forms for a startup: https://www.orrick.com/en/Total-Access/Tool-Kit/Start-Up-Forms
California Lawyers Association – Handbook for Incorporating a Business: https://calawyers.org/section/business-law/publications/handbook-for-incorporating-a-business/
California Lawyers Association – Legal opinion resources: https://calawyers.org/tag/business-law-opinions-resources/
Guide to California Securities Law Practice or similar Guide
CEB OnLaw Business Law Library: https://store.ceb.com/business-law-library
Practical Law: https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/practical-law
NVCA model legal documents (venture capital): https://nvca.org/model-legal-documents/
Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) – Y combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/documents/
Cooley GO documents: https://www.cooleygo.com/documents/
Orrick Startup Forms Library: https://www.orrick.com/Total-Access/Tool-Kit/Start-Up-Forms
Capshare/Shareworks: https://www.capshare.com/
Digital Mail: https://www.earthclassmail.com/
Online contract development: https://ironcladapp.com/