In his slides for the PSU Lab2Market program, Jon Summers of the law firm White Summers identifies the following top-10 mistakes from a legal perspective that startups make:
10. Missing 83(b) Election Deadline
9. Selling Stock to Non-accredited Investors
8. Forming Entity as S Corp or LLC instead of C Corp
7. Failing to Register Stock Option Plan
6. Waiting too long to Form Entity
5. Failing to Vest Founders Stock
4. Bringing in Tainted People
3. Disclosing w/o a Sufficient non-discloure agreement
2. Not getting a non-compete signed before an employee starts work
1. Waiting for Funding to Fix Problems (don’t wait; fix them!)