When to talk to a lawyer or accountant

Which situations genuinely need a professional, which do not, and how to spend the least money getting the most protection.

What is it?

Some situations genuinely require professional advice; many do not. The distinction is about irreversibility and consequence, not about complexity.

This lesson is the list.

Why does a founder care?

Because founders make both mistakes: paying lawyers for things templates handle perfectly well, and signing genuinely consequential documents alone to save a few thousand.

A few thousand spent reviewing a term sheet is the best-value money a founder ever spends. A few thousand spent on bespoke terms of service for a $20/month product is waste.

Example

Genuinely need a professional:

  • Any term sheet or funding document. Board composition, liquidation preference and protective provisions decide years of your life. Use a lawyer who sees venture terms weekly.
  • Equity to employees. Tax treatment varies by country and getting it wrong creates liabilities for your staff.
  • Anything with a regulator — financial services, health, data-sensitive sectors.
  • An acquisition offer. Never respond to an LOI alone.
  • A dispute — co-founder, employee, customer. Early advice narrows it dramatically.
  • Employment terminations. Rules vary and mistakes are expensive.

    • Do not need a professional:

  • Incorporating a straightforward company in a common jurisdiction
  • Standard SAFEs on unmodified documents
  • Terms of service for a low-price self-serve product
  • A standard privacy policy for straightforward data
  • Basic contractor agreements with a standard IP assignment

    • How to spend less: book a single paid hour, arrive with specific written questions, and ask which parts of the situation are standard and which are not. A good startup lawyer will tell you plainly where you do not need them.

    The common mistake

    First-time founders often sign a term sheet without review to seem easy to work with, or to avoid the cost. The terms in it are worth vastly more than the fee, and no reasonable investor objects to you taking advice — the ones who do are telling you something.

    The second mistake: using a general commercial solicitor for a venture round. Someone who does not see these documents regularly will not know what is standard, which is the entire value.

    The third: waiting until a dispute has escalated. Early advice is cheap and narrows the problem; late advice is expensive and manages a mess.

    How it works

    Step 1: Sort by irreversibility and consequence

    Hard to undo and high stakes → professional. Reversible and routine → template.

    Step 2: Find a lawyer who does startups specifically

    Ask other founders. Someone who sees venture documents weekly knows what is standard, which is what you are paying for.

    Step 3: Buy a single hour, well prepared

    Specific written questions, documents attached in advance. You get far more from one prepared hour than three unprepared ones.

    Step 4: Ask what is standard and what is not

    The most valuable question you can ask about any document you have been sent.

    Step 5: Get an accountant early, not late

    For structure, payroll, equity tax and filings. Usually a smaller ongoing cost than a lawyer and used more often.

    Step 6: Never sign a funding document unreviewed

    This is the one absolute rule in this lesson.

    When to use this

    Whenever something is hard to reverse or has consequences you cannot fully assess.

    When not to use it

    Do not pay for bespoke drafting of routine documents. Templates from reputable sources are genuinely fine for standard, low-stakes situations.

    Do this now

    This is educational information, not legal advice. Rules differ by country and change — get advice from a qualified professional in your jurisdiction before acting.

    Apply this to your own startup in My Full Journey (free account).