Legal coaching

Possible contents:

Process of founding // Which legal form is the right one for my start-up? What are the legal and tax differences? How does a start-up work? What do I have to consider legally when choosing a company name? What are the steps before founding a company? What needs to be done after the start-up?

Investor and financing strategy // What impact does my investor and financing strategy have on the drafting of the articles of association? How do I make my start-up legally due diligent and investor-ready?

Managing director liability // What liability scenarios do I face as a managing director of a GmbH and how can I protect myself against them? What obligations do I have as a managing director towards the company and third parties? What are the principles of capital maintenance and what liability do I have with regard to capital maintenance? How do I behave correctly in a company crisis? What liability do I face? What is D&O insurance and when does it make sense?

Data protection check // What data protection implications do I need to consider with my business idea? How do I implement the data protection requirements in a legally compliant manner? What are the legal principles of data protection that I have to observe? What records and documents do I need to fulfil the data protection requirements?

Labour law // What does it mean for me to hire my first employees? How do I calculate employees in my business plan? How is an employment contract concluded? How can I give notice to an employee? What options do I have for incentivising employees in addition to wages?

Employee share ownership // What forms of employee share ownership are there? Why is employee share ownership so popular with start-ups? What are the advantages and disadvantages of open participation compared to virtual participation? How do the most important clauses work, in particular vesting, strike price, exit compensation, profit sharing? 

Financing and participation // What are the options for corporate financing? What are the advantages and disadvantages? How do these affect the balance sheet? What are mezzanine forms of financing? Why are they so dangerous for start-ups? How does a convertible loan work legally? What is a silent partnership? What is a qualified subordination and why is it so important for me? What is a company in difficulty in the EU sense?

Freelancers and work contracts // How do I use freelancers and contractors effectively for my company? What are the advantages and disadvantages? How do I ensure that I have the rights to the work results that have been created? How do I protect my company with effective non-disclosure clauses and non-competition clauses? What is the issue of ‘bogus self-employment’? What risks does my company face? How do I protect myself against the consequences of bogus self-employment?

Contract law and general terms and conditions // How are contracts concluded and what do I need to bear in mind when concluding a contract? How do I organise my contract documents? How does the electronic conclusion of a contract work? What points do I absolutely have to regulate in my contracts? How do I limit my liability and what are the limits of an effective limitation of liability? What are general terms and conditions? How do I effectively include them in the contracts? What are the most important GTC clauses?

Trademark and labelling law // How does trademark and labelling protection work in Germany and the EU? Why is trade mark law so important for my startup? How do I develop a valuable trade mark strategy? What is the legal basis of trade mark law in Germany and the EU? How do I carry out a trade mark search and what do I need to look out for? How do I register a trade mark in Germany and the EU?

IT law and IT business models // As a software company, how do I legally organise my business model? What is the legal difference between software licensing, SaaS, software development, maintenance and support? How do I utilise the legal differences for my contract design? Which contract modules are the right ones for my business model? What are the legal limits when choosing the contract structure?

Legally compliant use of AI // How do I use AI in a legally compliant way for my company? How do I deal with data protection? How do I protect trade secrets? What do I need to inform my customers, contractual partners and employees about when using AI? How do I do that? What are the risks if I don't implement this correctly? What legal requirements do I have to observe when I use AI in my business model?

Target groups:

• Founders
• Managing directors of start-ups
• Members of a start-up team

Trainers:

Lisa Mayer-Helmstetter, Ilka Mandernach, Markus Kleer or Tilmann Lahann

About our coaching sessions:

• Based on your individual needs, our coaching sessions teach you the essential basics and methods to enable you to run your business. The aim is to help you help yourself.
• The scope and sequence of the coaching sessions are individually agreed with you. Each coaching package includes a time hour package, which is usually sufficient to conduct several online coaching sessions plus preparation on the topic of your choice.
• It is possible to add individual coaching sessions or discounted coaching packages at any time. Coaching hours from general coaching packages can be used by you to conduct individual coaching sessions.
• Our coaching sessions are particularly suitable for existing subsidised start-up projects. In this context, it can also make sense to book several coaching sessions together. If necessary, we will be happy to design a customised offer for the respective university. Just get in touch with us!
• Legal and tax advice only from lawyers and tax advisors.

Procedure of the coaching:

1. Intro and initial meeting with the founding team and the main team coach to discuss the course of the coaching, content focus and schedule. We put together the project team according to the main focus.
2. Kick-off meeting with the founding team and the coaching team, presentation of the team's founding idea, development of the team's short, medium and long-term target planning, particularly with regard to attracting investors and financing the start-up.
3. Coaching sessions to work on the founding team's individual issues based on the topics selected by the team
   For the individual subject areas, where possible, preparation of legal term sheets as a basis for the drafting of further legal documents (e.g. data protection, management contract, general terms and conditions, etc.).
4. If desired, we are happy to supervise the creation of further legal documents. As decisions regarding content have already been clarified during the coaching, the drafting of the contract takes significantly less time and can be covered by a consulting contingent for legal and tax advice.