Partnering with founders

Organizations that work with early-stage founders often agree on the spirit of an arrangement and leave the details unwritten. This brief goes through the details that tend to be missed and explains why each deserves a line in a signed document.

It sorts common arrangements into six kinds: referral and resale, integration and listing, co-development, pilots, supplier terms and program participation. It then follows the questions that cut across them. Who owns what gets built? How do copyright and patent rules treat work done by two parties? What do open-source licenses ask of an organization that bundles a product? What do data protection and security expectations look like in a contract? When does the way people are directed make them employees rather than contractors? What changes when a partner is paid in shares?

Each section reports what a public source says, drawn from statutes, agency pages and standards publications, and separates that report from analysis. A table compares the structures, and a closing list gives questions that either side can bring to counsel.

The brief names no company and describes no particular arrangement. It makes no promise of an introduction, a partnership or funding, and it does not recommend a structure. It also lists what its sources cannot show, including state law, other countries and changes to rules after the evidence was read.

This brief is general information for partners. It is not legal, tax or investment advice.