The DIY General Counsel Guide
Everything you need to handle startup legal yourself. Fair warning: it's a lot.
This guide is a free collection of best practices for managing legal at early-stage companies. It won't solve all your problems, but it might help you avoid the expensive mistakes we've seen founders make over thousands of transactions.
We wrote this because we believe all founders deserve easy access to the "science" of law—the stuff that's the same for everyone. Save your precious legal budget for the "art"—lawyers applying law to your specific circumstances.
A word of caution: Following these checklists correctly takes significant time and attention to detail. Your company may have custom needs not reflected here, and this guide is not legal advice and Story is not your lawyer because you used this guide. One missed step can create problems that cost 10x more to fix later. If you'd rather have specialists handle this while you focus on building your company:
What You Need to Know First
Who This Guide Is For
Early-stage private companies operating in the United States
Teams without in-house legal counsel
Delaware C Corporations specifically (other entity types need custom guidance)
Founders comfortable with detailed administrative work
The True Cost of "Later"
Legal work done correctly from the start saves money long-term at the expense of time now. When you wait to fix issues, it's both more expensive AND more time-consuming than preventing them.
Creating and maintaining complete files using this guide should replace work that typically costs $100,000-$500,000 by BigLaw merger counsel in an exit. It should eliminate $10,000-$40,000 of work usually done by lawyers in a Series A. The catch? You have to do it all yourself. Perfectly. Every time.
What These Checklists Do NOT Cover
Custom legal advice for your specific situation
Every possible issue that could arise
Non-Delaware entities (LLCs, S-Corps, other states)
Complex transactions requiring judgment calls
Anything that requires actually practicing law
Legal disclaimer: This guide is not legal advice and doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. If the standard recommendations here are wrong for your situation, that's on you. You get this for free because we assume no liability.
Your Legal Filing System
Before you can complete any checklist, you need somewhere to put everything. Here's the file structure that will satisfy diligence requirements for investment or exit.
1. Stakeholders
Investors (anyone who puts money in via any instrument)
Shareholders (anyone who currently owns stock)
Optionholders (anyone who has or ever had options)
Employees (W-2 employees)
Contractors (vendors and 1099 independent contractors)
Advisors
2. Events
Governance + Investment Transactions
Non-Investment Equity Transactions
Material Commercial Transactions (generally >$25,000)
Consents (board and shareholder)
Other significant events
3. Assets
Financial Engagements
Forms (board-approved templates)
Infrastructure
Insurance Policies
Intellectual Property
Legal Engagements
NDAs
Real Property
File Naming Convention
Use this format consistently: YYYY.MM.DD [Document Title] - [Stakeholder/Entity Name]
Maintaining this system perfectly over years is what makes diligence painless. Missing one document or misfiling something can trigger expensive lawyer hours to investigate during a transaction.
The Operating Checklists
Below are the detailed checklists for common legal operations. Each one represents hours of careful administrative work. Expand any section to see the full process.
Time estimate icons should appear next to each checklist title showing approximate effort required.
Protecting Your IP
You will be better off 100% of the time if you engage a lawyer to register any IP. We always recommend this, even on a tight budget. These checklists cover what to keep in your files—they aren't meant to replace legal counsel.
When to File a Trademark
You see or suspect a competitor using a similar name/logo in a similar business
You have >$500K in funding (good ROI at this point)
You want to protect your brand before problems arise
What Trademarks Cost
Filing fees: $275-$325 per class in the US
Professional search: $350-$3,000 depending on scope
Lawyer time: Highly variable based on complexity and conflicts
Basic Trademark Filing Checklist
Consider a search for similar marks before filing (discuss value with a lawyer)
File the application with all required details
Track your application status
Wait for USPTO examination (this can take months)
If office action received: work with lawyer to respond
When issued: update your IP records with registration details
Is DIY Really Worth It?
Time Investment Calculator
| Task | Occurrences/Year (typical) | Hours Each | Total Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Option grants | 6-12 | 3 | 18-36 |
| Employee hires | 3-6 | 2.5 | 7.5-15 |
| Contractor hires | 4-8 | 1.5 | 6-12 |
| NDAs | 10-20 | 0.5 | 5-10 |
| 409A approval | 1-2 | 2 | 2-4 |
| Terminations | 1-3 | 2 | 2-6 |
| Total | 40-83 hours/year |
That's 1-2 full work weeks per year spent on legal administration—assuming you don't make any mistakes that require fixing.
What Mistakes Cost
Common DIY errors and their price tags:
Missed 83(b) election: $50,000-$500,000+ in unnecessary taxes
Wrong option type (ISO vs NSO): Potential IRS penalties and employee tax issues
Expired 409A: Option grants may be invalid; backdating issues
Missing CIIA: IP ownership disputes (potentially company-ending)
Incomplete diligence files: $10,000-$50,000 in lawyer time during a transaction
The Alternative
Aegis Start - $500/month
All the checklists above, handled for you
Document generation and filing
Cap table management
Stakeholder portal
Question credits included (ask before you act)
Securities filing notices
Diligence-ready files from day one
Your time is worth something. If you're billing your own time at >$150/hour (and you should be), Aegis Start pays for itself if it saves you just 3-4 hours per month.
Resources for the Committed DIYer
Free Form Sources
Caveat: These forms are free because the firms charge heavily to customize them later. They're sometimes better than nothing, but they also often create problems you have to fix.
When to Call a Lawyer (Even on a Budget)
Formation documents (do it right from the start)
First employee hire in a new state
Any IP registration
Investor negotiations beyond standard SAFEs
Any termination with potential disputes
Any situation where you're not sure
Questions? Contact us at legal@story.law — we're happy to point you in the right direction even if you're not a client yet.