Sports Contract Template: Fill & Download for Free

Yes. After learning hard lessons about the tension between investors and founders, I teamed up with my former business partner, Dan Flanegan, and my attorney, K. Adam Bloom, to create an open-source standard that you can attach to any bylaw agreement, term sheet, employment agreement, etc.It’s called the Founder Friendly Standard. It has 17 sections that can lay common disputes to rest such as who gets to vote, who gets liquidation preferences, what is the scope of non-compete, etc.Here are (3) three of the juiciest sections:1.1 Individuals who work for the company and are instrumental in its inception (“Founders”) receive a class of equity such as Common Stock which provides no less than twenty-four (24) votes to one (1) vote of stock held by investors or employees.If you’re the founder, why not control your own company? This can lead to better business performance for investors according to Credit Suisse’s Family 1000 research[1][1][1][1].2.1 Founders agree in writing they will give and receive performance reviews at the end of each fiscal quarter for the first four (4) years.Have you ever seen conflict fester and erupt? Famous examples include Bill Gates & Paul Allen, Evan Spiegel & Bobby Murphy, and Mark Zuckerberg & Eduardo Saverin. This provision facilitates giving and receiving feedback at least every quarter to address conflict before it becomes a risk to your startup.3.2 For at least the first two (2) years of operations, the company does not agree to binding arbitration with any investor.It’s a known fact that forced arbitration between parties of unequal bargaining power[2][2][2][2] is unfair. And since arbitration is often more expensive than regular court, wouldn’t it be in the investor’s best interest to go along here to save costs?The full text of Founder Friendly Standard is available here. I encourage you to read it and send it to your attorney for your next conversation. See the “Quick Links” menu at the top of the standard. If you are papering a deal, your attorney can download and customize our free template term sheet. If an investor sent you paperwork, your attorney can compare it to the Founder Friendly Standard with our free attorney review form. You can download these resources without even providing your email address.Our attorney review form helps you organize analysis of the legal issues that can determine whether you run your startup or take orders from investors. We used the same review form as a starting point for the below infographic which compares popular term sheets to Founder Friendly Standard.Founder Friendly Standard v. other term sheets [Infographic]Click for an interactive infographic comparison of Founder Friendly Standard to term sheet templates like the Y Combinator Safe, 500 Startups KISS, NVCA Model Legal Docs, etc. In the interactive version, you can click on individual bars to reveal attorney commentary about each issue.What’s in it for investors?Healthy financial returns. I’ve researched how the Founder Friendly Standard combined with optionality can deliver better returns than today’s angel investing and venture capital methods. The book is called: Grays Sports Almanac for Venture Capital: A new standard for optionality to beat the odds.Footnotes[1] https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/publications/research-institute/the-cs-family-1000-in-2018-en.pdf[1] https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/publications/research-institute/the-cs-family-1000-in-2018-en.pdf[1] https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/publications/research-institute/the-cs-family-1000-in-2018-en.pdf[1] https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/publications/research-institute/the-cs-family-1000-in-2018-en.pdf[2] unequal+bargaining+power+arbitration+unfair - Google Search[2] unequal+bargaining+power+arbitration+unfair - Google Search[2] unequal+bargaining+power+arbitration+unfair - Google Search[2] unequal+bargaining+power+arbitration+unfair - Google Search

It all depends on the state your in, the wording in the signed contract, remember to beware that using a boiler plate contract template from the internet could leave you holding the bag in litigation, use a events lawyer to negotiate terms, brodcasting rights, liabilities.

Look at Legal Zoom or ask the companies you work with what they use. Be smart here and find a contract with language that covers your butt. I realize that it is not in everyone’s budget to hire an attorney. There are options. Look for a law school in your community and see if they can help you. Sample contracts are basic and might not have the important language that really protects you. Most businesses are fair and equitable. The contract is for the other kind of business, where screwing people is sport for them.