When you’re first contemplating launching a new startup, it’s not unusual to put in quite a bit of time and effort into testing the concept and developing prototypes before incorporating a new legal entity. Mix in the uncertainty of working with co-founding partners that you don’t know very well and misunderstandings can rise up quickly. This proven Memorandum of Understanding (Letter of Intent) document template has protected my interests as the Founder of my companies, as well as those of my prospective Co-Founders. How? It provides a way for all parties to go their own ways in an amicable fashion in case the partnership is not working out, before the new venture is incorporated. It also contains non-binding language that allows you to specify how equity split in the new venture is planned once the company paperwork is filed, with vesting.

Please note: I believe that starting off with accurate, proven document templates should help you save a lot of money in legal fees. But this SAMPLE template is not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. Always have your attorney review, discuss and approve these documents before using them in your business.

Get the template (and many more!) here.

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This easy-to-read sales lead agreement allows a company and a well-connected person to establish a legal arrangement for paying commissions on referrals. The templates are fully annotated and based on the contract that I have with a number of web design and development agencies (including the one I used to own.)

This agreement is very useful to the busy consultant. If your experience is like mine, you will constantly be passing off business that you can’t handle to friends and competitors. You could take an optimistic stance of hoping for quid pro quo, or you could put a lead referral agreement like this one in place to make sure your due slice of the pie.

There is a school of thought that says you should refer business to people in your network for free. I belong to that school of thought, with the exception of referrals related to my specialty. Web design and development is my primary domain of expertise. When someone comes to me wanting a referral to a service provider in that domain, it takes a foundation of ongoing effort to know how to best make a connection that will result in a successful business outcome. In my judgment, that’s worth compensation, not simply goodwill or favors owed.

As with all templates on msabundle.com, the zip file contains templates in Apple Pages and Microsoft Word formats, plus an annotated PDF copy for reference.

Please note: I believe that starting off with accurate, proven document templates should help you save a lot of money in legal fees. But this SAMPLE template is not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. Always have your attorney review, discuss and approve these documents before using them in your business.

Get the template (and many more!) here.

By popular demand, here is a very solid, general-purpose independent contractor agreement to use with your subcontractors. This is the exact document that I have used with my own subcontractors for many years. It is simple (2 pages) and gets right to the point, with protections for your intellectual property and confidentiality. Fully annotated PDF, MS Word and Apple Pages versions included in zip file.

Please note: I believe that starting off with accurate, proven document templates should help you save a lot of money in legal fees. But this SAMPLE template is not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. Always have your attorney review, discuss and approve these documents before using them in your business.

Get the template (and many more!) here.

A clear, comprehensive and full-featured 4-page offer letter template for use with new hires. This template is fully annotated with my commentary and based on the offer letter wording that I have used many dozens of times over the last 5 years. In addition to the standard terms of employment that you would expect to find, I have included valuable, optional boilerplate paragraphs to cover:

• Relocation expenses
• Signing bonus
• Equity grants
• Phone/Travel expenses
• Confidentiality and Invention Assignment
• “Side Project” Exceptions
• Non-compete Clause

Bundle includes Pages, MS Word and PDF formats.

Please note: I believe that starting off with accurate, proven document templates such as this bundle should help you save a lot of money in legal fees. But these SAMPLE templates are not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. Always have your attorney review, discuss and approve these documents before using them in your business.

Get the template bundle (and many more!) here.

MSAs are by no means the end-all, be-all of consulting contracts. In fact, if you have the reputation and marketing saavy to get away with using it, I think you should consider instead relying on a Retained Services Agreement or RSA.

The RSA is different from its cousin the MSA in several ways:

• You only need to execute it once, there are no SOW addendums.
• It specifies a monthly retainer that is paid upfront, every month
• It can easily specify an irrevocable minimum contract length
• It can easily mandate a minimum written notice of termination

Since you’re always paid up-front with an RSA, it’s significantly easier to pause work on late payment, which is one of the best, if not the absolute most effective way of making sure that you always get paid for your hard work.

Personally, I use an RSA for my consulting contracts nowadays instead of a MSA. As an entrepreneur and independent consultant that’s really short on time, I can’t afford to constantly renegotiate terms or be chasing after late payments.

Fully annotated Pages, Word and PDF versions are included.

Please note: I believe that starting off with an accurate, proven document template such as this one should help you save a lot of money in legal fees. But this SAMPLE template is not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. Always have your attorney review, discuss and approve these documents before using them in your business.

Testimonial

I’ve been power using your RSA and will be sending it out to 5 different clients tomorrow. The RSA is fairly written, applicable to any web/software service provider, and easily adaptable to my company tone & brand. Thank you for this great product, you’ve saved me thousands of dollars!

Kevin Dubienski, Partner at YycApps

Get the template (and many more!) here.

Fully annotated Pages, Word and PDF versions are included in bundle.

BONUS: On my blog you will find a 54-minute workshop video that tells you exactly how to use and negotiate this exact MSA+SOW document bundle.

Please note: I believe that starting off with accurate, proven document templates such as this MSA+SOW bundle should help you save a lot of money in legal fees. But these SAMPLE templates are not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. Always have your attorney review, discuss and approve these documents before using them in your business.

Get the template bundle (and many more!) here.

These documents are based on the ones that I’ve used to great success in my own businesses, including Hashrocket and as a pricey independent contractor. Fully annotated Pages, Word and PDF versions are included. My blog even has a free 54-minute workshop video recorded at BizConf 2010 with my lawyer friend Jose Gonzalez in which we discuss exactly how to use and negotiate the MSA+SOW contract.

The MSA + SOW

An MSA (Master Services Agreement) along with its companion Statements of Work serves to both details the broad strokes of your vendor-client relationship and define specific phases and or deliverables of your contract. This template is a proven vehicle for contracting out teams over the course of long-term engagements and I’ve used it on dozens of projects with budgets up into multiple millions of dollars.

The RSA

An RSA (Retained Services Agreement) is used to create a consulting relationship based on a periodical retainer payment, usually monthly. It is perfect for high-powered consultants or shops that want to establish recurring revenue, for instance, with ongoing maintenance or advisory arrangements. The RSA serves as a tool to help you divide your valuable time among multiple clients while still keeping a good handle on how much income you’ll make per month. It is a valuable alternative to the MSA to have in your toolbelt.

Testimonial

I’ve been power using your RSA and will be sending it out to 5 different clients tomorrow.  The RSA is fairly written, applicable to any web/software service provider, and easily adaptable to my company tone & brand.  Thank you for this great product, you’ve saved me thousands of dollars! 

Kevin Dubienski, Partner at YycApps

Please note: I believe that starting off with accurate, proven document templates such as the ones in this pack should help you save a lot of money in legal fees. But these SAMPLE templates are not a substitute for personalized advice from a knowledgeable lawyer. Always have your attorney review, discuss and approve these documents before using them in your business.

Get the templates (and many more!) here.