Founder's Pie

Early-stage founder agreements made easy

2 followers

Early-stage founder agreements made easy

2 followers

Startup communities

•

Legal services

The Founder's Handshake and Prenup formalize the work relationship between two (potential) Co-Founders. Remove all legal uncertainty when testing it if you vibe together while building a company.

Free

Launch tags:Legal•Startup Lessons

Launch Team

ClarifyThe full-stack AI CRM for modern GTM teams

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Formbricks

Maker

Buon giorno! 👋 3 weeks ago the On Deck Build Weekend got wrapped up and with it, I got a message from one of the On Deck founders: "Hey Johannes - interested in building this (Founder's Prenup) inside On Deck as a part of the team?" Humbled and happy that my little idea resonated, I found myself in a dilemma. Should I apply for the job and work for one of the 🔥 startups from SV? Or should I continue freelancing on the side to build products which could grow into a company of their own? 🚀 I decided to build a first version, for two reasons: I can't think of a better way to apply for the job if I want it while buying me some time to think about it 🤓 So, here they are: Two simple and crisp agreements to help early-stage founders formalize their work relationships. -------------------------------- 🤝 THE FOUNDER's HANDSHAKE 🎯 Triggers all essential conversations two people should have before getting their hands dirty. Writing it down prevents misunderstandings and "did we really talk about this?"'s. Covers: Milestones, Responsibilities, Time Commitment, Cost, Profit & Fundraising Philosophy, Equity Split (Ballmark Estimate), Personal Run Rate, Founder Vesting, What happens if things don't work out and more. -------------------------------- 💍 THE FOUNDER's PRENUP 🎯 You already worked on your idea and incorporated a company doing so? You want to onboard a new Co-Founder but want to test working together before making it official? The Prenup is made for you! Protect your IP from claims, leaking of insights (NDA) and home-made competition WHILE aligning incentives. Includes: Deliverables, Transfer of IP, Confidentiality, Prevention of Employee Solicitation, Non-Compete during Test Run and the basic stuff you don't want to deal with. -------------------------------- Please note: Founder Pie provides self-help services at your specific direction. We are NOT a law firm or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. Communications between you and Founder's Pie are NOT protected by the attorney-client privilege or as work product. We cannot provide any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms, or strategies.

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@tanjum Thank you! :))

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5yr ago

Local Lead Game

@jobenjada dude? This comes at a perfect time for me. I’m partnering with somebody else I’m not sure how far the business will take us but he seems cool. I like the idea of the handshake and pre-nip phases. Thank you 👍

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@kensavage What a coincidence! It seems that signing a Handshake is a very good start for the two of you :) Shoot me a message on Twitter @jobenjada in case you have questions or feedback! Super happy to make the product more tailored to your needs!

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5yr ago

@jobenjada Can this really only be done for 2 founders? 🤯 how about teams of 3 or 4? Do you plan to expand your form? Hopefully not too hard and opens it up to a lot more teams.

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@mhafellner Hey Markus! Correct, currently its only for teams of two but it will certainly be available for founding teams for three and more! Didn't yet get around to build as I wanted to test demand first. But its pretty high up on the list, and you now moved it a position more up! :)

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5yr ago

Congrats on the launch! So what is the main issue Founder's pie brings a solution to? Is it to facilitate the creation of agreements? What happens if one of the partners does not respect their part of the handshake or of the prenup? And how different is the prenup from the handshake?

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@rubenwolff Great questions! I will start with answering the last question first, which makes it easier to answer the first. The Handshake is made for two people who agree to work on an idea, but neither has done much yet. The Handshake facilitates the conversation about the relationship among co-founders and keeping it in writing prevents misunderstandings and is a solid foundation for a co-founder agreement during the incorporation of the startup. The Prenup is made for a different setup, where one of the parties is already incorporated and wants to onboard a new co-founder. It is usually too early to talk about equity since you haven't worked together at all. On the other hand, both parties want to have to option to decline further collaboration after a certain period of time. This period is what the prenup is super helpful with, for several reasons. 1. The founder wants to protect the startup from future IP claims. If someone works on it for a while, the IP situation gets very blurry (can be a no-go for VCs too) 2. The newly joining team mate wants to avoid working on a project for a couple of months without compensation only to find him/herself fired because "It doesnt work with us". This is why in the Prenup both agree on a compensation which is either paid in equity (if they continue working together) or in fiat money (if the discontinue). This transaction is the basis to transfer all IP legally to the startup as well as enforcing the NDA, etc. Hope this clears it up :)

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5yr ago

Switch 1.0

This is actually mega useful. Pretty much everything seems overkill as you kick an idea off the ground, but a simple agreement makes a lot of sense. Nice one, @jobenjada - congratulations on the launch, and thanks for helping launches 🌱🚀

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@bertie Hey Bertie! Happy that you see the value too :) I totally agree that the solution needs to be simple and quick - with much lawyer-language.

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5yr ago

We live in a VUCA world especially characterized by the factor of complexity. I love products that lead to a breakdown and simplification of complex structures and it sounds like this product achieves just that. Keep up the good work!

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@timm_locke Whats VUCA? Thanks for the support Timm!

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5yr ago

@jobenjada According to the VUCA concept, our world is characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Products that enable a perspective beyond the horizon and include their environmental factors are therefore very promising for me. I wish you all the best with your idea!

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@timm_locke interesting framework to look at the world - thanks for sharing! :)

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5yr ago

Cal.com

looks cool. any product that makes getting started (i.e. stripe atlas or clerky) are a massive benefit for the whole startup ecosystem. this looks similar but more specific on the pre-incorporation phase (which is a lot of time) 🚀

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@peer_rich exactly, especially with remote work and no code on the rise I think there will be lots of international teams of people who will not meet in the first year or two. Aligning early on is super valuable to prevent founder breakups down the line. Thanks for your support!

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5yr ago

Great Idea for new Start-Ups. Saves a lot of time and potentially money setting something like this up yourself. Very useful for every new founder to get started right away with what's important. Thanks Johannes, have a successful launch!

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@laurens_leopold you got it exactly right, thanks for your support! :)

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5yr ago

Product Hunt

@jobenjada Congratulations on the launch! You are on some ⚡ shipping speed! Love the idea... so important that founders have 100% clarity of what they are diving into. Going forward, how about adding other team members also to the project... and think of it like a team vision/roadmap (instead of just Founders)... with timeline, individual roles, KPIs etc.

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5yr ago

Formbricks

Maker

@adityavsc Great ideas Aditya! This can be taken down many routes and tbh I havent thought too much strategically yet - focused on building it quickly :) Could become a great way to assisst international teams with digital company formation as well, as the EU forces its member states to make this more and more possible. Thanks for your continuous support! !

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5yr ago

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