Perspective · 6 min read
The legal work founders actually need
Most early-stage legal spend is either wasted or badly timed. A managing partner's short list of what actually protects a young company.
Gerard Keogh · June 4, 2026
Founders I meet fall into two groups. The first has spent too much on the wrong legal work — a fifty-page shareholders' agreement negotiated before there is a product, or a trademark filed in twelve jurisdictions before there is a customer. The second has spent nothing at all and is one term sheet away from giving away the company by accident.
The list of legal work that actually protects an early-stage business is short: a clean cap table with clear vesting; IP properly assigned from every contributor from day one; a simple, enforceable customer contract; and a founder agreement that survives disagreement. Everything else can wait.
What cannot wait is a lawyer who will tell you the truth about which of those you have and which you do not. That is the entire job at the early stage. We talk about this more openly, and at more length, on the MGSN Podcast — because founders deserve the real conversation, not the invoice.
