Outside startup counsel
Your legal teambefore you have a legal team.
Ongoing counsel for companies making regular decisions about contracts, hiring, equity, fundraising, and governance.
Talk about your startup
01 / THE PROBLEM
Individual legal decisions need a shared business context.
A continuing relationship helps connect individual legal questions to the company’s larger plans. Priorities and scope can evolve as customers, investors, and the team change.
+02 / COMMON FRICTION
Small gaps.Bigger questions.
01Contracts reviewed without company context
02Corporate records falling behind
03Board obligations overlooked
04Legal work delayed until a deadline
03 / HOW ETHAN CAN HELP
Understand the business.
Then the documents.
Start with your objective and the documents already in place. Identify the decisions that need attention, discuss practical options, and coordinate the work needed to move forward.
A continuing relationship helps connect individual legal questions to the company’s larger plans. Priorities and scope can evolve as customers, investors, and the team change.
+04 / WHAT THE SERVICE MAY INCLUDE
The workbehind the next step.
- Contract review and enterprise deals
- Fundraising and board matters
- Equity and hiring
- IP and partnerships
- Corporate housekeeping
- Strategic legal questions
The scope is agreed for each engagement. Some questions may require coordination with tax, employment, or other specialist advisers.
07 / WHEN YOU MAY NEED THIS
Need regular contract and governance support?↗Preparing the company for its next chapter?↗+FOUNDER FAQ
Good questions.Clearer next steps.
General information only.
Not legal or tax advice.
01What documents do investors review?
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Common requests include formation documents, board approvals, equity issuances, a cap table, IP assignments, material contracts, employment records, and earlier financing documents. The scope varies by transaction.
02When should a startup use outside legal counsel?
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A useful time is before a consequential commitment: issuing equity, accepting investment, hiring, transferring IP, or signing a material contract. The scope should reflect the company’s stage and needs.
03What should founders prepare before fundraising?
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Organize formation documents, approvals, stock records, the cap table, IP assignments, material contracts, and outstanding financing instruments. Identify gaps before promising a closing date.
+LOS ANGELES / WHAT COMES NEXT
Built by people.Built for possibility.
A company is more than its documents. It is the people, work, and ambition behind them.
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER STARTS WITH A CONVERSATION.
Let’s talk about
what you’re building.
Tell Ethan where the company is today
and what needs to happen next.