Founders Agreements. Done right.

Most startup disputes happen between founders who started as friends. A founders agreement decides equity splits, decision rights, IP ownership, vesting, and exit mechanics while everyone still agrees - which is the only time those conversations are easy. Without one, a co-founder who leaves in month six can still own a third of the company three years later. Our agreement services for founders get this agreed while it is still easy.

Vesting means founders earn their equity over time rather than receiving it all up front. The standard is four-year vesting with a one-year cliff - if a founder leaves before completing 12 months they walk away with nothing, after which they vest monthly for the next three years. Investors expect this structure; raising without it triggers expensive rewrites at first close.

Every founder signs an IP assignment confirming that anything they create related to the business - code, designs, brand assets, customer lists - belongs to the company, not to them personally. This includes work done before incorporation. Without it, a co-founder leaving with the original codebase or brand identity is a real and recurring problem.

Day-to-day decisions sit with the CEO; defined major decisions (raising capital, taking on debt, selling the company, hiring senior staff, changing strategy) require board or unanimous founder approval depending on threshold. We bake in deadlock-breaker mechanisms - chair casting vote, independent director, or a buy-sell clause - so a 50/50 split cannot freeze the company.

Yes - we draft to standards UK and US VCs and angels expect, including share class definitions, drag and tag, pre-emption, and information rights that fold cleanly into a future term sheet. Founders who use generic online templates routinely pay £10K+ in legal fees to unpick them at first close; ours are designed not to need that.

Zmartly's founders agreement services run on fixed monthly plans at £129, £250 and £499, with the scope agreed up front and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You know the cost before we start, with no hourly billing and no lock-in. A template online can look cheaper, but the cost that really matters is the rewrite, or the dispute, you avoid by having the terms drafted properly for your company. It also works out far cheaper than a shareholders agreement solicitor billing by the hour.

As early as possible, ideally before or just after you incorporate, while the founding team is small and everyone is still aligned. The agreement is easiest to write, and cheapest, when nobody has a reason to disagree yet. Leaving it until a co-founder is unhappy, or an investor asks to see it during due diligence, is when it becomes difficult and expensive. If you have already started without one, it is not too late - our agreement services for founders can put one in place now.

Yes. A founders agreement is a contract, and once it is properly drafted and signed by everyone it is legally binding under English law. The important words are "properly drafted": vague wording, missing signatures, or clauses that contradict your articles of association are what make agreements hard to enforce. Our founders agreement services draft yours so the terms are clear, consistent with your other company documents, and enforceable if they are ever tested.

There is no single right answer, but be careful with 'equal because it is easier'. Base the split on what each founder actually brings: who had the idea, who is full-time versus part-time, who is putting in money, and who carries the most risk. Whatever you agree, vesting protects it, so a co-founder who leaves early does not keep a share they never earned. We help you pressure-test the split before it goes in writing.

It depends on what your agreement says, which is exactly why you want one. With vesting in place, a founder who leaves before the one-year cliff keeps nothing, and after the cliff keeps only what they have earned so far. Good leaver and bad leaver terms settle the rest. Without an agreement, a departing co-founder can keep every share they were given on day one, even after just a few months, and there is very little you can do about it.

No. A business partnership agreement governs a partnership or LLP, where partners share profits directly and there are no shares. A founders agreement, sometimes written founders' agreement, is for a limited company where founders hold shares. Most UK startups set up a limited company, so a startup founders agreement is what you want, and it folds in vesting, IP and leaver terms a partnership agreement usually will not.