corporate-law advice
What are the (legal) aspects to consider before accepting a technical advisor position?
<p>Recently, I was offered a position at a startup company as a Technical Advisor, given some equity.</p>
<p>The position seems very appealing with a great potential, but this will be my first time taking such a position, therefore I thought to ask you, the community, for an advice (yes, this is a meta question, asking advice for an advisory position :D).</p>
<p>What are the key points I should consider before accepting the position? Are there any legal obligations and bindings I need to discuss and negotiate?</p>
<p>Since I am expected to provide insights based on technical expertise, I want to support the company responsibly and to the best of my abilities, but I want to avoid any kind of trouble in case of an insufficient advice, and be legally covered. Also, I want to ensure that I will keep my equity, even if I decide to leave later.</p>

<p>The considerations are more economic than legal. The failure rate of start ups is very high. Compensation is typically heavily weighted to stock options which gives a huge payout in a rare unicorn success, but nothing, most of the time.</p>
<p>Some of the legal open questions would be:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>What IP rights from your own work can you salvage if the company dies?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Do the stock options contain loopholes that can swindle you out of your big payday?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Is the bird in the hand enough to get by, considering you need to be building a nest egg in case it goes bust?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Are there non-competes that make it hard to jump ship for another option if the company starts to flounder?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Have you read the prospectus being given to investors since you basically are one? Is the business plan realistic enough to work? Especially, do they have enough cash to last until they are in the black?</p>
</li>
<li><p>What kind of track record do the key principals and investors have in past deals? Have they screwed over junior partners in the past?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Do you need to put money in and have skin in the game to get a decent return if the business thrives?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Are you an employee at will, or do you have a fixed term contract? If you are an employee at will, what is to prevent them from canning you before your stock options vest?</p>
</li>
</ul>
