Zach Shulman ’87 J.D. ’90, director of  Entrepreneurship at Cornell, has co-authored a new booklet for startup founders focused on legal issues.

“Startup Launch – Liftoff with Legal 101 for Entrepreneurs,” which helps founders think early about key items that will set them off on the right legal track, was created by Shulman and a team of corporate and intellectual property lawyers at WilmerHale, including partners Jenna Ventorino and Gary Schall.

“We were collectively surprised that a booklet comprehensively covering startup basics from a legal perspective did not exist and we immediately wanted to fill that knowledge gap,” Shulman said. “It is exciting to assist founders navigating these issues and handling the legal basics correctly.”

The book addresses early, pre-fundraising basics for entrepreneurs, including entity formation basics, founders agreements (including pre-incorporation agreements), equity incentive plans, tax issues basics, bank account setup, accounting and financial statement basics, capitalization tables, hiring and terminating employees, policy basics, licensing, intellectual property and business insurance.

“Collaborating with my colleagues and Cornell’s entrepreneurship experts has resulted in a relationship that greater serves the startup community,” said Ventorino, who provides ongoing counsel to public and private life sciences and technology companies.

Schall used his background in accounting and financial modeling to assist in developing business solutions essential to startup founders. “My hope is this booklet will serve as a guide to founders looking to learn the basics,” he said.

Read the full booklet.