Founder agreement and vesting checklist
The decisions to make before you sign a founders' agreement, the UK and Ireland points to check, and what the next investor will look for.
A checklist for the conversation founders have before they sign a founders’ agreement or the founder terms of a shareholders’ agreement, and a record of what you decided and why. It is the brief for your solicitor, not the agreement itself, and nothing in it is legal or tax advice.
What’s inside
- Before you sign: thirteen decisions, with the options founders usually choose between
- UK and Ireland specifics to check with your solicitor and accountant
- What the next investor will test
- Common mistakes
- Checklist: what you have and what is missing
Start here. Fill the decision table for the first five rows: the split, vesting, acceleration, time already served and leavers. Everything else can follow in the week.
It comes filled in with a worked example for Northlight AI Ltd, a fictional company. Blue cells are yours: write your position, agree it between founders, then take the completed table to a solicitor.
