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I don't want to pay for an attorney to write a contract for me.

Is there a good convertible note contract template that I can use?

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5 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

You may want to reconsider convertible notes anyway. At least, that's the latest perspectives. Do some reading | of | recent | posts before signing anything.

And yes, get a lawyer to review whatever document you use. Caveat Emptor!

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up vote 1 down vote

There's a Y Combinator startup that built a generator for convertible notes, Clerky. I am working on a public repository for this kind of templates, too.

Even lawyers start from templates they found on the web. They should be free and accessible to everybody, and not from sketchy websites like blitzdoc or other clones.

Update - some convertible note samples here: https://www.docracy.com/doc/search?query=convertible+notes&s-submit=Submit

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up vote -1 down vote

Disagree with bwasson on the universality of 'get good contracts.' Think of legal work like insurance - you should only do it if the 'premium' you pay is at or below your pricing of the risk.

Shameless plug of my blog article

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2  
Your blog post effectively suggests doing an expected-value calculation. Sure, that makes sense as far as it goes, but it presumes that you have the knowledge to do the expected-value calculation. Is it a 0.1% chance, a 1% chance or a 10% chance? In your approach, you're not just betting that the bad event won't happen, but you're betting on your ability to know whether the bad event will happen. – Chris Fulmer Dec 12 '12 at 16:06
up vote 4 down vote

You're not going to like my answer, but I'll give it anyways.

Use an attorney. I know it sucks paying someone $250 / hour to write a short paper for you, but honestly, you can pay him $250 an hour to write a good contract (Maybe $500 total), or you can pay him $250 / hour + expenses ($10,000-$20,000 minimum) to go to court when your bad contract throws you into the fire.

Good contracts make good businesses. More-so when you're looking at investors. You have a fiduciary duty to your company to protect it, and yourself from controversy. And having good contracts, and seeking legal advice when it's needed is part of that duty. Your shareholders can actually hold you criminally, and civilly liable for failure to satisfy fiduciary duties.

Keep everyone happy, and get a lawyer :)

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