Article Of Incorporation Sample: Fill & Download for Free

To start, MN LLCs have Articles of Organization (sample at http://www.sos.state.mn.us/media/1824/llcarticlesoforganization.pdf) rather than Articles of Incorporation.Once you look your LLC up at Search Business Filings, that is where you can order a copy of the Articles.The Secretary of State explains what a certified copy of a filing is at Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State:A Certified Copy includes an additional page with a certification stamp stating that the document(s) are true and complete copies as filed for record in the office.Whether a certified copy is required depends on why you are obtaining the copy of the filing.

In the UK, when you incorporate a company, you automatically get a set of Model Memorandum and Articles. You can then alter those if need be.The Articles of Association of a Company are your company’s constitution.If your company was a country, the Articles of Association would be the main source of law.You will find the following rules (but you are free to create your own!) in your Articles:The appointments of directors - which shows whether a shareholder dominates or shares equality with all of the contributorsDirectors meetings - the quorum and percentage of voteManagement decisions - whether the board manages or a founderTransferability of shares - assignment rights of the founders or other members of the company doSpecial voting rights of a Chairman, and his/her mode of electionThe dividend policy - a percentage of profits to be declared when there is profit or otherwiseWinding up - the conditions, notice to membersConfidentiality of know-how and the founders' agreement and penalties for disclosureFirst right of refusal - purchase rights and counter-bid by a founderSource: WikiAs I explained earlier, in the UK, you are able to alter your Articles, enabling you to ‘customise’ the laws of your company.If you’re looking to understand your particular rights further, I strongly recommend that you seek the advice of a qualified lawyer.Or if you are unsure about what you/your business requires legally, we offer a Startup Legal Session (It’s Free!) here or you can read our blog for more details on startup requirements.

Below is an extensive, categorized list of the best legal and financial resources I've found, re-posted from http://rockhealth.com/2011/08/the-startup-handbook-a-curated-list-of-great-legal-and-financial-resources-for-entrepreneurs/IncorporationStartup Company Laywer: What type of entity should I form? (http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/2009/03/12/what-type-of-entity-should-i-form/)Startup Company Lawyer: What state should I incorporate in? (http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/2009/03/03/what-state-should-i-incorporate-in/)Y Combinator model Articles of Incorporation (http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html)TechStars model Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (http://www.techstars.org/2009/02/07/techstars-model-seed-funding-documents/)Founder’s Stock and General Stock IssuesFred Wilson: How dilution works (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/employee-equity-dilution/)Fred Wilson: Vesting (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/employee-equity-vesting/)Venture Hacks: Creating a cap table (http://venturehacks.com/articles/cap-table)Startup Company Lawyer: The all-important 83(b) election for founder’s stock (http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/2008/02/15/what-is-an-83b-election/)Equity and Options for EmployeesFred Wilson: Overview of equity and options for employees (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/employee-equity/)Fred Wilson: Stock options (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/employee-equity-options/)Fred Wilson: Option strike prices and 409a valuations (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/employee-equity-the-option-strike-price/)Fred Wilson: How much equity/options to give employees (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/employee-equity-how-much/)Venture Hacks: Negotiating the size of the option pool in VC financings (http://venturehacks.com/articles/option-pool-shuffle)Joel Spolsky: Allocating founder and employee equity (http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/6949/forming-a-new-software-startup-how-do-i-allocate-ownership-fairly/23326#23326)Advisory Boards and Boards of DirectorsVenture Hacks: Everything you wanted to know about advisors part 1 (http://venturehacks.com/articles/advisors) and part 2 (http://venturehacks.com/articles/advisors-part-2)AsktheVC: Board member and advisor board compensation (http://www.askthevc.com/wp/archives/2007/06/board-member-advisory-member-compensation.html)Angel/Seed FundraisingFred Wilson: Raising from friends and family (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/financing-options-friends-and-family/)Venture Hacks: Setting a valuation in a seed round (http://venturehacks.com/articles/seed-valuation)Todd Vernon: Types of angel investors (http://falseprecision.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/05/angel-financing.html)Venture Hacks: Finding a lead investor part 1 (http://venturehacks.com/articles/lead) and part 2 (http://venturehacks.com/articles/lead-part-2)Startup Company Lawyer: Should startups raise angel rounds using a convertible note or preferred stock? (http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/2007/04/27/should-a-startup-company-raise-its-seed-round-using-a-convertible-note-or-series-a-preferred-stock/)Mark Suster: Angel funding advice (http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/08/14/angel-funding-advice/)Mark Suster: Should you take seed money from a large VC? (http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/10/18/vc-seed-funding-is-dead-long-live-vc-seed-funding/)Startup Laywer: Only raise from accredited investors (http://startuplawyer.com/preferred-stock/life-is-too-short-to-deal-with-non-accredited-investors)Open Source Angel/Seed Fundraising DocumentsNote that all these documents are for priced rounds; many startups now raise angel rounds through convertible notes.Y Combinator (WSGR) (http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html)TechStars (Cooley) (http://www.techstars.org/2009/02/07/techstars-model-seed-funding-documents/)Series Seed (Fenwick and West) (http://www.seriesseed.com/)Founders Institute (WSGR) (http://www.founderinstitute.com/posts/69)Convertible NotesFred Wilson: Overview of convertible debt (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/financing-options-convertible-debt/)Startup Lawyer: How convertible debt works (http://startuplawyer.com/convertible-notes/how-convertible-debt-works)Startup Company Lawyer: Interest rate on convertible notes (http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/2010/01/11/what-is-a-convertible-bridge-note-with-a-price-cap/)Startup Lawyer: The convertible note discount price cap (http://startuplawyer.com/convertible-notes/the-convertible-note-discount-price-cap)Martin Kleppman: Valuation cap on convertible notes explained (http://martin.kleppmann.com/2010/05/05/valuation-caps-on-convertible-notes-explained-with-graphs.html)Venture Financing MechanicsFred Wilson: Introduction to preferred stock (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/financing-options-preferred-stock/)Startup Company Lawyer: Sample VC term sheet (http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/2007/05/14/what-does-a-series-a-term-sheet-look-like/)Brad Feld: Series explaining key terms in VC term sheets (http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2005/08/term-sheet-series-wrap-up.html)WSGR Term sheet generator (http://www.wsgr.com/wsgr/display.aspx?sectionname=practice/termsheet.htm)Venture Financing AdviceVenture Hacks: Don’t send NDAs or full business plans (http://venturehacks.com/articles/plans-ndas-traction)Ventures Hacks: Creating competition to get better terms (http://venturehacks.com/articles/create-a-market)Marc Andreessen: Raising venture capital (http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-startups-part-3-but-i-don)General Fundraising AdviceMarc Andreessen: How much to raise (http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-startups-part-6-how-much)Mark Suster: Should you take money from a strategic investor? (http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-startups-part-3-but-i-don)Mark Suster: The right and wrong times to try to raise money (http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/11/08/funding-season-ends-next-week/)PitchingVenture Hacks: The “elevator pitch” for emails (http://venturehacks.com/articles/elevator-pitch)Sequioia Capital: Pitch deck contents (http://www.sequoiacap.com/ideas)Dave McClure: How to pitch a VC (http://500hats.typepad.com/500blogs/2009/03/how-to-pitch-a-vc-aka-startup-viagra-how-to-give-a-vc-a-hardon.html)The Mint.com pitch deck (http://www.slideshare.net/hnshah/mintcom-prelaunch-pitch-deck)Guy Kawasaki: How to deliver a great pitch (http://academicearth.org/lectures/make-great-pitch)Accounting and BudgetingFred Wilson: The profit and loss statement (http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/the-profit-and-loss-statement/)AsktheVC: Do VC’s require audited financials? (http://www.askthevc.com/wp/archives/category/accounting)Glenn Kelman: Startup budgeting (http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/10/financial-model.html#axzz1TEbwzAxh)Jason Calacanis: How to save money running a startup (http://calacanis.com/2008/03/07/how-to-save-money-running-a-startup-17-really-good-tips/)HiringVenture Hacks: How employees should evaluate job offers part 1 (http://venturehacks.com/articles/job-offer) and part 2 (http://venturehacks.com/articles/job-offer-2)Venture Hacks: An employee offer letter (http://venturehacks.com/articles/offer-letter)AsktheVC: Benchmarks for employee/founder compensation (http://www.askthevc.com/wp/archives/2007/06/what-are-typical-compensation-numbers.html)Startup Company Lawyer: Benchmarks for employee compensation (http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/2009/05/01/how-much-should-you-pay-an-executive-in-a-startup-company/)