Founders’ Agreements

Jared Arcari (Fordham Law ‘19) and  Blessing Adeyeye (Fordham Law ‘18) join to discuss three main aspects of founders’ agreements: ownership rights of the entity and its accompanying intellectual property, management responsibilities, and confidentiality issues between co-founders.

Episode Roadmap:

● [:37] Jared Arcari introduces himself and Blessing Adeyeye as Fordham Law students under the direction of Professor Bernice Grant.

● [2:04] Arcari explains why a founders’ agreement is an essential first step to co-founding a business, using Facebook as a cautionary example of what not to do. 

● [5:31] Adeyeye highlights the benefits of having ownership, management, and confidentiality conversations early on.

● [8:16] An explanation of equity allocation in exchange for consideration provided by each co-founder.

● [10:58] The benefit of having a vesting schedule and intellectual property protection from the inception of the company.

● [14:25] Management aspects of founders’ agreements, including responsibilities of each co-founder, compensation, and decision-making terms.

● [18:34] Advantages of creating confidentiality provisions and non-disclosure agreements. 

● [22:20] Adeyeye summarizes the key aspects of founders’ agreements.