Why founders outgrow the hourly firm
Most firms bill for time, which means their incentive is to spend more of it. Three things follow from that, and founders feel all three.
Asking questions costs money
When every email is billable, founders stop asking. The expensive mistakes tend to be the ones nobody wanted to pay to ask about.
The number arrives after the work
Hourly means approving a budget you cannot see yet. A flat fee puts the price before the work instead of after it.
Junior work at senior rates
Large firms often staff associates on routine documents, then bill the partner review on top of it.
What your startup lawyer handles
The recurring legal work of a venture backed company, priced before it starts.
A San Francisco law firm for founders
A startup lawyer should work the way you do: fast, direct, and without surprises.
Which one do you actually need
Three different problems, three different answers. Most founders start at the first and move down over time.
One thing to get done
Flat fee work from $500
You need a specific document: a formation, a SAFE, an option plan, a contract review. Pay a fixed price, get the deliverable, no retainer.
Legal keeps coming up
Subscriptions from $1,690 per month
Questions arrive weekly and you want an attorney team on Slack rather than a new engagement letter every time.
You need someone senior owning it
Fractional general counsel
Rounds and contracts are moving faster than founders can review them and the board is asking about risk. That is a fractional general counsel .
Questions founders ask
How much does a startup lawyer cost?
It depends on whether you are buying a document or a relationship. Fellow prices defined work at a flat fee: formations from $2,900, a SAFE issuance from $2,400, contract drafting or review from $500. Ongoing support runs as a monthly subscription from $1,690. Strategy calls and live negotiations are billed hourly, because there the value is judgment rather than a document.
When should a startup hire a lawyer?
Before you incorporate, if you can. The two cheapest moments to get legal right are the day you form the company and the day you issue the first equity. Founder vesting, IP assignment, and 83(b) elections all carry deadlines that are difficult or impossible to fix afterwards.
What is the difference between a startup lawyer and a general counsel?
A startup lawyer does the work. A general counsel owns the function: deciding what gets done, what risk is acceptable, and when to bring in a specialist. Most companies need the first long before they can justify the second.
Do you work with founders outside the US?
Yes. Our focus is US law and founders building in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a large share of our clients are European companies setting up a US entity. Some of our team are qualified in other jurisdictions, which helps when a matter has a European side to it.
What does a startup lawyer do day to day?
Very little of it is litigation. It is formation documents, equity grants, financing paperwork, customer contracts, and hiring documents, plus the judgment calls about which terms to argue over and which to concede.
