Ask HN: Recommend a legal service to review startup offer

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40922835

by soulbadguy • 2 years ago

3 3 2 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

About to get an offer from a startup and i am looking for a professional review to make sure there is no obvious catch, and the offer is pretty standard.

Also, should i expect the exercise window and % ownership be mentioned on the offer ? The recruiter did no seem to have those details.

brudgers• 2 years ago

If you are in the US, call your state bar, describe your legal need, and ask for a referral. Referrals are a service state bars provide in exchange for their monopolies.

yamumsahoe• 2 years ago

does clerky support this?

matheist• 2 years ago

should i expect the exercise window and % ownership be mentioned on the offer

In my experience it's unfortunately somewhat common to not provide this information up front, and more so when it's not favorable. If you're looking for language to request the information, you might ask something like "I expect to consult counsel about the offer, as I'm sure you understand, so I'd appreciate if you could please give me a copy of all the documents you'd expect me to sign as part of employment, including the employment agreement, any NDA[0], IP[1] assignment, and equity grant, and anything else I'd need to evaluate the offer like what percentage my options would represent (fully diluted), and exercise window and tax status (ISO vs NSO, etc)."

[0] non-disclosure agreement

[1] intellectual property

Ask HN: Recommend a legal service to review startup offer

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