For founders
For Startups
Writing for founders gathered in one place - incorporation and founder agreements through raising, governing and eventually exiting. The same heads as the rest of the site, filtered to startups only: toolkit material, articles, long reads, developments, quick explainers and the dates that matter.
The lifecycle
Find your stage, then read only what applies to it.
- 01
Idea to incorporation
Choosing the entity, founder agreements, vesting, IP assignment and the paperwork that decides who owns what before there is anything to own.
Explore this area - 02
First money
Friends and family rounds, angels, syndicates and SPVs, convertible instruments, and the terms that quietly set founder dilution.
Explore this area - 03
Institutional rounds
Term sheets, shareholders' agreements, anti-dilution, drag-along, board composition, information rights and FEMA reporting.
Explore this area - 04
Building the company
ESOP pools, employment and contractor documents, customer and vendor contracts, data protection and sector licensing.
Explore this area - 05
Governance that scales
Board process, related-party transactions, statutory registers and the compliance calendar a growing company cannot outsource entirely.
Explore this area - 06
Exit, or a clean stop
Secondaries, strategic sale, due diligence readiness - and where required, an orderly wind-down rather than a drifting one.
Explore this area
Toolkit - checklists, playbooks and heat maps
Template · 5 min read
Founders' Agreement
A skeleton founders' agreement for Indian early-stage companies - capital contribution, vesting, roles, IP assignment, exit and deadlock.
OpenTemplate · 4 min read
NDA Agreement
A mutual or unilateral confidentiality skeleton - definition of confidential information, permitted disclosures, term and remedies.
OpenSummary · 5 min read
ESOP Scheme Summary
Skeleton ESOP summary - pool size, eligibility, grant mechanics, vesting, exercise, leaver treatment and key Indian tax considerations.
OpenTerm Sheet · 6 min read
Convertible Note / CCD Term Sheet
Term-sheet skeleton with Indian startup law constraints - DPIIT recognition, Section 62(3), INR 25 lakh minimum tranche and 10-year conversion window.
OpenGuide · 4 min read
Pitch Deck Guide
Legal hygiene and structure for founder pitch decks - deck outline, readiness checklist and how to request the full playbook.
OpenChecklist · 5 min read
Vendor / MSA Clause Checklist
A practical checklist for SaaS and services agreements - scope, SLAs, pricing, IP, data protection, liability, indemnity and termination.
OpenPlaybook · 21 slides
The Startup Legal Playbook
A complete legal and regulatory guide across the five stages of a startup - ideation and structuring, incorporation, early-stage funding, growth, and exit - with the 2025–2026 reforms folded in.
Open
Articles
Article · 6 min read
Funding Rounds Decoded: From Pre‑Seed to Growth - Instruments, Investors, and Terms That Actually Matter
You have seen your first term sheet. You know valuation exists. You have heard words like 'Series A', 'convertibles' and 'venture debt'. But beyond the headlines, how does funding actually work across rounds and what…
OpenArticle · 3 min read
5 Things Founders Must Do Before Signing a Term Sheet
A term sheet arrives and it feels like the moment you have been working toward. It is tempting to sign quickly, before the investor changes their mind. That instinct is exactly what experienced investors are counting on…
OpenArticle · 4 min read
The First 180 Days: A Founder's Compliance Countdown
Incorporation feels like the finish line. The certificate of incorporation is in their hand, the company exists, surely the hard part is done.
OpenArticle · 4 min read
5 Documents Your First Employees Must Sign & Why Most Startups Get Them Wrong
Your first few hires usually join on a one-page offer letter and a handshake. It feels right for the stage - informal, fast-moving, high-trust. It is also exactly how startups end up with no legal claim to code an early…
OpenArticle · 4 min read
What Every First-Time Director Must Know Before Signing the Consent Letter
Somewhere in the incorporation paperwork is a form called a "consent to act as director." Founders sign it without a second thought. It feels like a formality, one more box in the SPICe+ filing.
OpenArticle · 4 min read
5 Things Every Co‑Founder Must Put In Writing (Before It is Too Late)
Most founder disputes do not happen because two people disagreed. They happen because two people never actually agreed in the first place - they each walked away from a conversation with a different understanding of…
OpenArticle · 5 min read
5 Things Every Founder Must Do Before You Incorporate
You have not filed anything yet. There is no company, no bank account, no letterhead - just an idea and, usually, a co-founder. It feels too early for lawyers.
OpenArticle · 3 min read
No Roof, No Limits: Shifting Gears with Startup Convertible Notes
Convertible notes, CCDs and SAFEs exist because both sides would rather defer the valuation question than fight over it too early.
OpenArticle · 5 minute read
Syndicates and SPVs
How India's seed rounds actually get built now - one clean line on the cap table, and the shadow governance that sits behind it.
OpenArticle · 5 minute read
Bootstrap or Raise?
The real choice facing Indian founders in 2026 - what a clean cap table is worth, which three funding terms actually bind you, and how to decide.
OpenArticle · 2 min read
Significant Beneficial Ownership: The 10 Percent Line, Not 25
The SBO analysis begins at 10 percent and traces through companies, partnerships and trusts.
Open
Long Reads
Long Read · 8 minute read
Not All "Investors" Are The Same
A founder's field guide to who is actually on the cap table - angels, micro VCs, corporate venture arms, crowdfunding platforms and late-stage capital, and the governance that comes with each.
OpenLong Read · 10 minute read
A Progressive-Disclosure Platform for Startup–Investor Synergy
A concept note on structuring startup–investor discovery around graded confidentiality under Indian company, securities, contract and data protection law.
Open
Did You Know? - quick explainers
Did You Know?
Do you know a "ratchet" clause and a standard anti-dilution clause protect against different things?
Broad-based weighted average spreads the impact of a down round; a full ratchet resets the investor's price entirely.
OpenDid You Know?
Do you know startups get an ESOP relaxation that other private companies don't?
Recognised startups may issue ESOPs to promoters and directors holding more than 10% equity, unlike other private companies.
OpenDid You Know?
Do you know angel tax no longer exists for any investor class?
Section 56(2)(viib) was abolished by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 for resident and non-resident investors alike.
OpenDid You Know?
Do you know the DPIIT startup turnover cap just doubled?
A DPIIT notification dated 4 February 2026 raised the startup turnover ceiling to Rs. 200 crore, with a longer runway for deep tech.
OpenDid You Know?
Do you know a drag-along right can force a founder to sell shares they never agreed to sell?
Without carve-outs on price floor, timing or consent thresholds, a drag-along can bind a founder to an exit they had no real vote on.
OpenDid You Know?
Do you know CCPS are the default VC instrument in India for a regulatory reason, not just habit?
Only fully and compulsorily convertible instruments count as equity under FEMA; anything else is treated as debt and attracts ECB conditions.
OpenDid You Know?
Do you know a "pre-money" and "post-money" SAFE can produce very different dilution outcomes for the same cheque?
A post-money SAFE fixes the investor's ownership after the round; a pre-money SAFE does not, and founders can be diluted far more than the headline cap suggests.
Open
Dates founders should watch
31 Dec 2026
In 90 days
Exchange control (FEMA) · Reserve Bank of India
Annual Performance Report for overseas investment
Indian entities with overseas direct investment file the APR for the preceding accounting year under the FEMA overseas investment framework.
15 Jul 2027
In 286 days
Exchange control (FEMA) · Reserve Bank of India
Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets
The FLA return is filed by Indian entities with foreign direct investment or overseas investment, based on the audited or provisional accounts for the preceding financial year.
31 Mar 2030
In 1276 days
Tax · DPIIT / Startup India
Section 80-IAC deduction - window for incorporation
The profit-linked deduction for eligible DPIIT-recognised startups is available where the startup is incorporated before 1 April 2030. Founders planning incorporation should note the cut-off, and that the deduction runs for three consecutive years out of the first ten.
Questions on these subjects
These subjects usually turn on the facts of a particular company.
Questions on anything written here may be sent to the practice.
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