Start-up Companies: Avoiding Key Legal Mistakes Checklist

Summary

This checklist highlights the key legal issues that should be considered when a company first starts up. Such issues include choosing the appropriate legal entity for the company, acquiring and protecting intellectual property (IP), complying with securities laws, compliance with labour and employment laws, utilizing social media to achieve business ends, cybersecurity and privacy issues, and supplier and customer relationships. This checklist also identifies areas where missteps commonly occur and the serious impact and disruption such missteps may cause to business operations, achieving the founders' objectives, or gaining a return on investment for the start-ups investors.