What’s included
The Startup Starter Pack provides two main resources:Documentation
Complete guides organized by topic (Founders, Formation, Financing, Business Essentials)
Document Library
Curated collection of model forms from Series Seed, Y Combinator, NVCA, and Techstars
Documentation guides
Complete guides organized by topic to help you understand when and how to use each document:- Founders - Founder Accords and Code of Conduct policies
- Formation - LLC and corporation setup documents
- Financing - Term sheets, SAFEs, convertible notes, and investment agreements
- Business Essentials - Advisor agreements, NDAs, terms of use, and privacy policies
Document library
The library contains complete document sets from trusted sources including:Series Seed
Standardized seed investment documents from Cooley LLP
Y Combinator
Series AA equity financing documents and SAFE templates
Techstars
Model seed funding documents for 2M rounds
NVCA
Template venture capital investment documents
Who should use this
The Startup Starter Pack is designed for:First-time founders
First-time founders
If you’re starting your first company, these documents provide a solid foundation without requiring deep legal expertise. Each template includes context about when and how to use it.
Early-stage startups
Early-stage startups
Companies at the idea, pre-seed, or seed stage can use these documents to formalize relationships with co-founders, advisors, and early investors without incurring significant legal costs.
Accelerator participants
Accelerator participants
If you’re going through an accelerator program, these standardized documents can help you move quickly through legal requirements so you can focus on building your product.
Legal professionals
Legal professionals
Attorneys working with startups can use these as starting points, customizing them for specific client needs while saving time on initial drafting.
Why standardization matters
As venture capitalist Fred Wilson notes:The problem, as Brad Feld points out, is that nobody has done the work to get all the various players in the room and standardize on one form… That’s ok with me as long as everyone understands it.While perfect standardization may be impossible, having vetted templates from respected sources (Y Combinator, NVCA, Cooley, etc.) provides:
- Reduced legal costs - Less time spent drafting from scratch
- Faster deal execution - Investors recognize standard forms
- Balanced terms - Documents reflect market-standard provisions
- Educational value - Compare different approaches to the same legal needs
Document formats
Each document in the library is available in multiple formats:Source links
Direct links to the original documents from Y Combinator, NVCA, and other trusted sources
Multiple file types
Templates provided in
.md (Markdown), .doc (Word), and .pdf formats for easy editingOpen source and contributions
The Startup Starter Pack is an open-source project licensed under MIT. Contributions from attorneys, developers, and entrepreneurs are welcome to help improve and expand the collection. If you’d like to suggest improvements, report issues, or contribute new documents, visit the project repository on GitHub.No attorney-client relationship: Communication of information by, in, to or through this project does not create or constitute an attorney-client relationship, is not intended as a solicitation or legal advice, and is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney.