What legal documents should a startup have from day one?

Incorporation documents with the MOA and AOA, a founders’ agreement covering equity, vesting and roles, written IP assignments from every founder and contributor, employment and consultant agreements, a standard NDA and services agreement, board and shareholder resolutions for every allotment, and a privacy policy and terms of use if the product collects personal data. Gaps here are the most common cause of delay in a fundraising process.

Do we need a lawyer if the platform can draft the document?

For routine, low-variation documents the draft plus a careful read is often proportionate. For anything that fixes ownership, allocates significant liability or is hard to unwind — founders’ agreements, investment documents, key customer contracts, settlements — a consultation with a qualified legal professional is the right call. The platform is designed to make that split explicit rather than to remove the lawyer.

When does the DPDP Act start applying to us?

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 applies to processing of digital personal data in India, and to processing outside India connected with offering goods or services to data principals in India. In practice this means most consumer and B2B products with Indian users are in scope from launch. The first steps are mapping what data you collect, establishing a lawful basis, and issuing a compliant notice.

For business

Legal Platform for Startups in India

Early-stage companies need legal work done correctly long before they can justify a legal hire. Sutor gives a startup a place to hold its corporate documents, generate and review customer and vendor contracts, keep IP assignment and employment paper in order, prepare for data protection obligations under the DPDP Act, 2023, and get a consultation when a question needs a lawyer — without paying firm rates for routine documents.

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Key takeaways

The documents that break diligence are almost always founder vesting, IP assignment and cap-table hygiene.
Customer paper signed early sets the liability position for every later deal of the same type.
Compliance debt compounds — unfiled resolutions and missing assignments get harder to fix over time.
The right model is standard documents in-platform, and consultation for the decisions that matter.

The problems this solves

No legal function

Contracts get signed because they have to be, not because anyone has read the liability and indemnity position.

Cost of external counsel

Firm rates make it uneconomic to send routine NDAs and vendor agreements out for review, so they are not reviewed.

Diligence surprises

Missing IP assignments, undocumented vesting and unreconciled cap tables surface when a term sheet is already on the table.

Data obligations

Products collect personal data before anyone has mapped what is collected, why, or on what lawful basis.

What you get

Corporate document workspace

Incorporation documents, resolutions, cap table records and investment documents held in one organised place.

Contract drafting and review

Produce your own NDAs, MSAs and vendor agreements, and review the paper customers send you.

Employment and contractor paper

Appointment letters, consultant agreements and the IP assignment language that diligence will ask for.

DPDP readiness

Privacy notice, consent design and processor terms mapped against the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Diligence preparation

Get the document set in order before the process starts rather than during it.

Consultation on demand

Escalate to a legal professional for the decisions that genuinely need one.

How a startup uses Sutor

Start with the paper you sign most often, then close the structural gaps.

1Bring your corporate and founder documents into one workspace
2Standardise the contracts you send to customers and vendors
3Review the paper counterparties send you before signing
4Close IP assignment gaps across founders and contractors
5Map personal data and put a compliant notice in place
6Prepare the diligence set ahead of the round
7Consult a legal professional on the decisions that need it

Outcomes

Contracts reviewed rather than signed unread
A diligence-ready document set
IP that actually sits inside the company
Data protection obligations identified early
Legal spend concentrated where it adds value

Frequently asked questions

What legal documents should a startup have from day one?: Incorporation documents with the MOA and AOA, a founders’ agreement covering equity, vesting and roles, written IP assignments from every founder and contributor, employment and consultant agreements, a standard NDA and services agreement, board and shareholder resolutions for every allotment, and a privacy policy and terms of use if the product collects personal data. Gaps here are the most common cause of delay in a fundraising process.
Do we need a lawyer if the platform can draft the document?: For routine, low-variation documents the draft plus a careful read is often proportionate. For anything that fixes ownership, allocates significant liability or is hard to unwind — founders’ agreements, investment documents, key customer contracts, settlements — a consultation with a qualified legal professional is the right call. The platform is designed to make that split explicit rather than to remove the lawyer.
When does the DPDP Act start applying to us?: The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 applies to processing of digital personal data in India, and to processing outside India connected with offering goods or services to data principals in India. In practice this means most consumer and B2B products with Indian users are in scope from launch. The first steps are mapping what data you collect, establishing a lawful basis, and issuing a compliant notice.

Get your legal foundation in order

Start with the documents you use most, and bring in a legal professional for the decisions that need one.

Talk to our team See the platform