Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
General Startup Legal Questions
This is a common question, and the answer depends on your specific situation. However, it’s generally recommended to consult with a lawyer early on to establish a strong legal foundation for your business. This can help avoid costly mistakes down the road.
There are several business entity structures, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. A lawyer can advise you on the best structure for your startup based on your specific goals and circumstances.
Protecting your intellectual property is crucial for any startup. As a law firm, we can help coordinate and assist in helping you register trademarks, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property.
There are several essential legal documents that all startups should have, such as founders / shareholder agreements between the company and the present shareholders, and services contracts between the founder and the company. A startup lawyer can help you draft and finalise these documents.
When you get a term sheet for an investment in your startup, you may contemplate if you could rely on the investor’s lawyer instead of hiring a startup lawyer to save a lot of money on fees.
From a business perspective, the investor’s lawyer is beholden to the investor. If the investor’s lawyer doesn’t play ball and get the deal done on the investor’s terms, the investor may likely obviously stop sending them work.
A lawyer should discuss with you all of the key legal terms in the term sheet to make you understand their ramifications including the structure of the deal. For example, you should know how the liquidation preference works and run spreadsheets, if necessary, to show you how much money you will get based on different liquidity events, how the option pool works including founders dilution. The lawyer should also discuss protective provisions and other tricky legal terms such as tag-along and drag-along rights and anti-dilution provisions.
There is too much at stake for an entrepreneur not to be represented by an unbiased lawyer who has no vested interest in the closing of a proposed financing.
When you get a term sheet for an investment in your startup, you may contemplate if you could rely on the investor’s lawyer instead of hiring a startup lawyer to save a lot of money on fees.
From a business perspective, the investor’s lawyer is beholden to the investor. If the investor’s lawyer doesn’t play ball and get the deal done on the investor’s terms, the investor may likely obviously stop sending them work.
A lawyer should discuss with you all of the key legal terms in the term sheet to make you understand their ramifications including the structure of the deal. For example, you should know how the liquidation preference works and run spreadsheets, if necessary, to show you how much money you will get based on different liquidity events, how the option pool works including founders dilution. The lawyer should also discuss protective provisions and other tricky legal terms such as tag-along and drag-along rights and anti-dilution provisions.
There is too much at stake for an entrepreneur not to be represented by an unbiased lawyer who has no vested interest in the closing of a proposed financing.
We usually get asked if we also help with investors’ introductions. Generally we do not get involved in connecting the two sides. However, when it does happen, it’s usually because an investor client has made inquiries with matching investment criteria.
In our experience, angel investors and fund managers that we have represented previously are fairly accessible and friendly people which you can usually connect on the professional social media network or at startup networking events easily.
Company Formation & Governance
The process of forming a company will require an appointment of a company secretary. A company secretary may be a lawyer, a chartered accountant or a licensed company secretary. A lawyer can guide you through the process and ensure that everything is done correctly.
There are certain ongoing legal and statutory requirements for all businesses, such as filing annual reports and holding board meetings. A lawyer can help you ensure that your company is compliant with all applicable laws.
There are several ways to raise capital for your startup, such as issuing shares in a private financing or public equity crowdfunding campaign in a regulated platform, or seeking venture capital funding. A lawyer can help you navigate the legal complexities of fundraising.
Law Firm Related Questions
The majority of our clients are tech start-up companies. Current and past clients include HealthTech, FinTech, EdTech, AgriTech, equity crowdfunding platforms, robo advisor, drone, real estate tech, AdTech, social platforms, and various social and consumer app startups. We also work with a handful of non-tech entrepreneurs.
We advise individual founders, tech company employees, and angel investors. We also partner with ecosystem players such as government agencies and institutions when it comes to accelerators and funding events. We also set up and counsel micro-VCs (usually for first time fund managers) including attending to the regulatory submission to prepare the funding documents.
Yes, we work with many clients outside of Malaysia to set up and maintain businesses in Malaysia. We also work with many entrepreneurs that are on MTEP and other visa types.
It’s up to you to choose your primary lawyer and we can recommend who would be the best fit if you aren’t sure. You will interface with your primary attorney most often, but you can expect to benefit from the firm’s collective knowledge and experience, and you still have access to any other attorney at the firm.
For larger transactions, you can expect to have more than one lawyer working on the matter in collaboration.
Occasionally, we may outsource certain work that we may not typically do ourselves such as company incorporation to trademark filing and so on. If this is the case, we’ll let you know beforehand in our engagement letter so that you’re aware of the outsourcing arrangements.
Ordinarily, startup lawyers usually bill by the hour or offer flat-fee packages for specific legal services. The final cost will depend on the complexity of your needs and the lawyer’s experience. In practice, the law firm will set out the billing rates upfront before you decide to engage the law firm.
Lawyers in Malaysia are strictly prohibited from publicising their services including their fees and charges. Therefore, we’re not able to publish our rates or caps on this website for reasons of publicity rules, but we’d be happy to send the rate card if you drop a note to our email [email protected] or to our official Whatsapp channel +60182407311.
For more discussion on the fees and charges, please refer to our ‘Fees and Charges’ page.
Look for a lawyer who has experience working with startups in your industry. It’s also important to find a lawyer who you feel comfortable communicating with and who understands your business goals.
What happens if I have a question that is not addressed here?
If you have a question not addressed in the above FAQs, please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] or send the question to our official Whatsapp channel +60182407311. We aim to respond within 24 hours upon receipt of the enquiry and we will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have about our law firm and our services.
Disclaimer: This frequently asked questions is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Please book in a free 30 mins initial call with us for legal advice specific to your situation.
Updated on 7 April 2024