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Artist models recoupment on a record-shaped contract blueprint; royalties melt advance blocks.

Guides, Reviews & Commentary

Understanding Label Advances and Recoupment: What Recording Artists Actually Owe

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Many recording artists assume a label advance is just a bank loan they’ll have to pay back out of pocket. That misunderstanding — about advances, recoupment, and royalty bases — drives poor negotiation choices, unnecessary anxiety, and can leave artists

Isometric hedge fund structure: fund, GP, manager, investor tiers, pipes, docs, exemption badges.

Fundraising & Financial Regulation

Launching a Hedge Fund: A Founder-Friendly Legal Roadmap

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Launching a hedge fund (or hedge-fund-like private investment vehicle) is less about picking a brand name and opening a brokerage account — and more about setting up the right legal structure, offering framework, and operating rules before you take outside

Two metallic silhouettes, floating contract; left chaos morphs to right clean cap table.

Fundraising & Financial Regulation

Why “Simple” Angel Deals Break Later—and How Legal Counsel Prevents It

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Angel investing is early-stage capital from individuals (or angel groups) that typically shows up in pre-seed and seed financings — and it can also look like a “strategic” startup investment by an established business. Because these rounds are often relationship-driven,

Abstract cap table control board; rose‑gold counsel silhouette anchors tiles and equity rings.

Startup Central

How to Manage a Startup Cap Table (and When Legal Counsel Is Essential)

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... A cap table is the startup’s financial operating system — it maps ownership, control rights, dilution, and option economics. Treated as “just a spreadsheet,” it becomes a liability; treated as a legal‑linked record, it’s an asset that

Rose-gold founder silhouette between legal checklist and cap table, balancing family and startup.

Startup Central

Legal Support for First-Time Founders in Their 30s & 40s: The Checklist That Actually Protects You

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Leaving a stable career to found a company raises the stakes — mortgage, family, limited runway. The core legal risk: treating law as an afterthought (copying templates, informal equity promises, or delaying counsel), which creates personal exposure and lost optionality.

Startup Central

Startup Legal Playbook: Early Legal Moves to Protect IP, Data, and Brand for Sustainable Growth

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Tech and AI startups move fast — often faster than their contracts, IP paperwork, and compliance posture. The problem is that legal “shortcuts” (a contractor who never assigns code, a privacy policy that doesn’t match reality, a name you

Vector illustration of a vesting timeline with a 1-year cliff and rising steps to 4 years

Startup Central

4-Year Vesting with a 1-Year Cliff: A Practical Guide for Startup Founders and Early Employees

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Equity is often the biggest part of startup compensation — and one of the main tools for aligning founders, early employees, and investors. But vesting mechanics (especially cliffs) are easy to misunderstand, even for experienced operators. When expectations don’t

Founder silhouette in split scene: glitchy spreadsheets vs clean cap table; docs feed in

Startup Central

Know What a “Healthy” Cap Table Actually Looks Like

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Founders increasingly rely on cap table platforms like Carta to manage equity, grants, and financing instruments as their companies grow past the “spreadsheet stage.” Done right, these tools give you a single, always-current view of ownership and dilution. The

Rose-gold tram silhouette with AI duty icons, EU/global split, cyan route, risk dial.

The EU AI Act Compliance Guide for Startups and AI Companies

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... The EU AI Act is quickly becoming AI’s GDPR moment: a comprehensive, omnibus-style framework that will influence how AI products are designed, documented, sold, and governed — well beyond Europe. The Act entered into force on 1 August 2024

Metallic 9-block EIN card hovers over desk, linked to bank, payroll, contract icons.

Business Formation & Corporate Governance

What Is an Employer Identification Number (EIN)? A Practical Guide for Startups and Small Businesses

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a 9-digit federal tax identification number the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assigns to identify a business (or other entity) for federal tax administration. Think of it as your company’s “tax ID” for

Adult silhouette viewing COPPA-style dashboard with child shield, data flows, and consent controls

COPPA Compliance in 2025: A Practical Guide for Tech, EdTech, and Kids’ Apps

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is the core U.S. children’s privacy law for online services that are directed to children under 13 (or that knowingly collect personal information from kids under 13). It affects

Stylized US map with neon cyan paths linking home state to DE/WY/NV, compliance icons.

Business Formation & Corporate Governance

Can I Form an LLC in a State I Don’t Live In? (Yes — Here’s How)

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... The core question is simple: can you legally form an LLC in a U.S. state where you don’t live? In most cases, yes — states generally allow non-residents to form LLCs. But forming “out of state” doesn’t

Metallic boardroom table with branching data map and aligned policy/system panels on dark grain.

Why Annual Privacy Policy Updates Are Now a Board-Level Issue (Practical Guide)

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... A privacy policy is your public-facing statement of what personal data you collect, how you use it, and who you share it with. Regulators, investors, and enterprise procurement teams increasingly treat it as a credibility test: if your policy

Confident lawyer silhouette bridging abstract AI pipeline and Web3 blockchain with grainy glitch accents

Why AI and Web3 Demand a Different Kind of Lawyer (Practical Guide)

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... This guide is for AI and Web3 founders, product leaders, startup in-house counsel, and tech-forward law firm partners who need legal advice that keeps up with how modern systems actually work. AI and Web3 products tend to ship into

Abstract justice scale with solid vs translucent plates, tilted toward presumed damages

Guides, Reviews & Commentary

What Are Presumed Damages? Meaning, Examples, and How to Respond

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Presumed damages come up when the law allows a court to award meaningful money damages even if the plaintiff can’t prove an exact dollar amount of loss. That matters for startup founders, in-house counsel, product and marketing leaders,

Isometric IP incident dashboard with glowing tiles, map lines, and magenta escalation path

Intellectual Property & Branding

Intellectual Property Violations Explained: How to Identify, Respond, and Enforce Your IP

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Why Intellectual Property Violations Matter More Than Ever Intellectual property (IP) includes the legal rights around your code, content, brand, inventions, and confidential know-how. For digital and AI-first companies, exposure is higher because products are easy to copy, distribution

Abstract figures transfer segmented risk flow through layered contract with shield/coins icons

Startup Central

Indemnification Clauses Explained: How Indemnity Works in Contracts (With Examples)

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Why Indemnification Clauses Deserve Your Attention An indemnification (indemnity) clause is the part of a contract where one party agrees to cover certain losses and third-party claims the other party faces — often including attorneys’ fees, settlements, and judgments. In

Founder at desk linking abstract DAO network to rigid legal frame via glowing cyan roadmap path

DAO Legal Structure Explained: Liability, Tokens, and DAO LLCs

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Why DAOs Matter and Why the Legal Piece Comes First This is a practical guide and checklist for startup founders, Web3 product leaders, and in-house counsel who keep hearing about DAOs and want to understand the real legal and

Abstract M&A table; cyan AI lines left, warm legal lines right, glowing data grid center chair halos

Start With a Human-First AI Strategy for Dealmaking

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... AI is already shaping modern M&A drawing target lists, triaging data rooms, drafting redlines, and accelerating post-close integration. Used well, it compresses timelines and expands coverage; used casually, it can expose privileged or NDA d deal materials,

Founder tames messy emails into a structured contract dashboard: financial data under control.

Startup Central

Accounting Service Agreements: A Practical Checklist for Startups and Small Businesses

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Early-stage companies commonly outsource bookkeeping, payroll, tax prep and fractional CFO work rather than hiring in‑house. Managing those relationships by email, invoices, or handshake creates real risks: unexpected fees, missed filings and penalties, loss of access to books,

Legal silhouette with arc dashboard; hazy-to-structured tiles, AI alerts, and governance spine

Legal Tech & Automation

Legal Strategy, Quantified: Using Data and AI to Scale Risk Management

Why Data-Driven Legal Strategy Now Matters for Startups and Growing Businesses Legal risk and spend are critical constraints for AI and tech startups: faster product cycles, evolving regulation, and costly disputes make legal a strategic limiter. Data science and modern AI now shape legal strategy — see our primer on data

Modern war room with tagged AI character cards, team at table, and a governance dashboard

Intellectual Property & Branding

Licensing Your Characters to Generative AI Platforms: A Legal & Governance Checklist for Studios and AI Companies

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... The Disney-OpenAI moment — reported multi‑character licensing plus a major platform tie‑in — has shifted generative character work from niche experiments to mainstream product strategy. Fan prompts now generate high‑fidelity, on‑brand clips at scale; some will remain

Why modern businesses need a deliberate trademark and brand protection strategy

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Trademarks are the names, logos, and slogans that identify your goods or services; brand protection are the steps to keep others from using them. Getting this wrong can force a costly rebrand, block funding or exits, enable copycats on

Metallic digital trademark plaque with receding timeline, cyan checkpoints, and risk halos

Intellectual Property & Branding

Why trademark lifespan and renewals matter for serious brands

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... This guide is for startup founders, brand‑focused operators, in‑house counsel and lawyers advising growing companies. Trademarks can be perpetual in theory, but federal registrations die quietly if you miss maintenance — and a cancelled registration can derail enforcement,

Address bar with concentric domain rings, rose-gold shield, glitching outliers, subtle topo lines.

Startup Central

The Startup Guide to Domain Name Trademarks: How to Pick, Clear, Register, and Defend Your Core Domains

Table of contents Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Many startups treat securing the .com as the finish line — then later discover a third party owns the matching trademark or a confusingly similar domain. That mismatch can force a costly rebrand, protracted disputes, or the loss of a