When you are bootstraping, how do you deal with the legal stuff such as term of use statement, privacy statement, NDA, etc? Do you hire someone to draft them for you? Or is there a site with a generic format that you can use?<p>Thank you. :)
Unless you have a legal issue unique to your startup, you can always get general legal advice from mentors and advisors and the HN community - someone just asked about terms of service, for example. You're probably too small for anyone to care to sue you.<p>But if you're raising money, having contracts signed, you really should work with a lawyer. Asking other startups in your area who they used is a good first step - you want to find a lawyer who specializes in working with early-stage companies, who can avoid some of the legal traps, many of which deal with tax issues associated with stock options and entity conversion. My personal opinion is that there's no good substitute for a good lawyer - using forms from LegalZoom just seems like a really bad idea.<p>I would also suggest getting a lawyer if your startup business model depends on a fine-tuned understanding of the law. For example, just the other day, a startup that was copying the structure and pagination of textbooks was sued by Pearson and other major textbook publishers. They're venture-backed, which probably means they consulted lawyers and understood the legal risks beforehand. Before spending tons of resources, I think you might want to know whether or not what you're doing is illegal, and whether you are prepared to deal with the legal risks.<p>Disclaimer: These statements are merely my personal opinions and do not constitute legal advice.
I don't generally self-promote but I've written a series of blog posts about handling privacy issues. Check them out. I'd love to hear your feedback on whether you found them helpful or not.<p><a href="http://jnorthrop.me/2012/04/15/privacy-best-practices/" rel="nofollow">http://jnorthrop.me/2012/04/15/privacy-best-practices/</a><p><a href="http://jnorthrop.me/2012/04/7/preparing-data-breach/" rel="nofollow">http://jnorthrop.me/2012/04/7/preparing-data-breach/</a><p><a href="http://jnorthrop.me/2012/04/3/getting-your-privacy-policy-ground/" rel="nofollow">http://jnorthrop.me/2012/04/3/getting-your-privacy-policy-gr...</a><p><a href="http://jnorthrop.me/2012/04/22/privacy-and-our-humanity/" rel="nofollow">http://jnorthrop.me/2012/04/22/privacy-and-our-humanity/</a>
This is a great question, which I'd love to know more about myself. You mentioned legal documents. I'd also love to know more about protecting your domain/product name from potential trademark issues. Even if your domain name
doesn't infringe anyone's trademark today, how to prevent it from happening in the future? How to deal with that in a global market? I'm not much worried about people stealing my ideas, but rather worried about people preventing me from developing my own idea. Any book recommendation on the subject would be very welcome.
FWIW: The legal disclaimer on my health site was adapted with permission from the legal disclaimer of a published author who has a PHD. He expressed concern about my legal exposure and had been hauled into court or something himself at one time for doing similar kinds of work. He advised me to put up a disclaimer and encouraged me to adapt his and sent me a copy. More recent language on the newer front page grows in part out of the fact that I worked for an insurance company for five years, where I received annual training in some of the federal laws that could potentially impact my health site. I state clearly that what I do is not medical. It is about eating right and making lifestyle changes.<p>I would also recommend being careful, considerate and sensitive. Politeness and manners help avoid situations that could require a lawyer.<p>Best of luck.