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Startup and small business contracts

The contracts you actually use, written the way you sell. Most contract pain doesn’t come from exotic problems. It comes from ordinary agreements that were never signed, never read, or downloaded from the internet and used well past their expiry.

from $1,500 flat

A short core set, drafted properly, with plain-English notes so you know when to use which.

01

What does a startup contract suite cost?

A flat-fee contract suite starts at $1,500 and covers the core agreements a young company actually uses: an NDA, an MSA and SOW or terms of service, and employment and contractor agreements. Each is customized to how you sell, with plain-English usage notes and a defined number of revision rounds included in the fee.

Who this is for

SaaS and web apps, agencies and studios, e-commerce and dropshipping stores, Amazon FBA sellers, consultancies, and creators licensing their work — anyone who has started selling and is running on a template, a handshake, or whatever the last customer sent over.

Contracts

from $1,500 flat

  • NDA, MSA/SOW or Terms of Service
    The outward-facing set, matched to whether you sell services, software, or goods.
  • Employment offers & contractor agreements
    Including the invention-assignment and confidentiality terms that keep the company’s work inside the company.
  • Customized to how you actually sell
    Drafted against your real motion — self-serve, sales-led, or project-based — rather than a template that assumes someone else’s business.
  • Plain-English usage notes for each document
    Which one to send, when, and which terms you can concede without hurting yourself.
  • Defined revision rounds — no meters running
    The number of rounds is stated up front and included in the fee.

Not included

  • Negotiating a specific deal against counsel on the other side (scoped separately)
  • Regulated-industry terms — healthcare, financial services, insurance
  • Contracts governed by non-US law
  • Ongoing review of inbound paper — that’s Fractional GC

If you need a counterparty’s paper reviewed on an ongoing basis rather than your own set drafted once, Fractional GC is the better fit.

02

Which contracts does a startup actually need?

Fewer than most founders expect. An NDA for conversations that warrant one, the outward-facing agreement you sell under, and the employment and contractor paper that keeps work inside the company. That short set covers the majority of real exposure for an early business.

This applies to companies that have started selling — or are about to — and are working from a template, a handshake, or whatever the last customer sent over.

Which contract clauses cause the most disputes?

Indemnity, limitation of liability, IP assignment, and termination cause the majority of real disputes in small-company contracting. Getting those four right matters considerably more than length.

I’ve written up the specifics in the contracts every founder needs, including what each clause does when it’s wrong.

Are contract templates good enough?

Templates aren’t the problem; mismatched templates are. A services agreement used for a software product, a manager-managed structure for a company that runs member-managed, an out-of-state form with the wrong statute — each one contradicts reality from the day it’s signed.

A template you have read, understood and matched to your business can be adequate. One adopted because it was free rarely is.

03

How does flat-fee pricing work?

The fee is flat and the scope is confirmed in writing before any work begins. “From” means that the stated figure is the starting point for a defined scope, and if your facts require more, you hear the revised number before anything proceeds, not on an invoice afterwards.

04

Common questions

Do I need a lawyer to write startup contracts?
Not always. A simple business with one standard offering and low-value deals can often run on a well-matched template it genuinely understands. The calculation changes once contracts carry real money, transfer IP, involve employees, or come from a counterparty with their own counsel.
What contracts does an e-commerce or dropshipping business need?
Typically terms of sale and a refund policy for customers, a supplier or fulfilment agreement covering defects, delays and who bears the loss, and contractor agreements for the designers, developers and marketers you use. The supplier agreement is the one most often missing and the one that matters most when an order goes wrong.
What is the difference between an MSA and an SOW?
A master services agreement sets the standing terms that govern the whole relationship — liability, IP, payment, termination. A statement of work sits under it and describes one specific engagement: deliverables, timeline, price. The pattern lets you sign the hard terms once and add projects quickly.
Do I need a contract for freelancers and contractors?
Yes, and specifically one with invention assignment and confidentiality in it. Without a written assignment, the freelancer who built your site, app or brand assets may still own that work — which becomes a problem at exactly the moment you need to prove the company owns what it sells.
Can I use a contract template I found online?
You can, and the risk is whether it matches your actual business. The common failures are a services agreement used for a software product, an out-of-state form citing the wrong statute, and terms that contradict how you really deliver. A mismatched template is often worse than a short one written for you.
How many revision rounds are included?
The number is stated in the engagement letter before work begins and is included in the flat fee. There is no meter running during the rounds you have been quoted.
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Other services

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Start here

I read every submission personally and reply within one business day — including when the honest answer is that this isn’t a fit.

Submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship, and I can’t treat what you send as confidential until we’ve signed an engagement letter — so keep the sensitive specifics for the call.