We're splitting up. 💔

Hey there,

Again and again we hear from business owners how confusing, time-consuming and costly it is to do anything legal in their business; whether it’s giving equity to an investor, writing a co-founder agreement or even just knowing what the best type of contract is for new employees. 🥲

So we’ve been working night and day to create a legal platform that gives you easy, on-demand legal guidance from top-tier lawyers: free 360 legal health checks, clear legal documents, expert lawyers you can easily book a call with to answer complex questions, and a roadmap showing you exactly what you need to do at each stage of your business growth.

All for up to 90% cheaper than a traditional law firm. 😏

If you want to be one of our beta testers, receiving early access to the platform and exclusive pricing, get yourself on the waitlist. 👈

The full version will be out at the beginning of November. Stay Tuned. We can’t wait to scale your business with you. 🫡

Back to our regularly scheduled programming…

To make sure we’re answering your legal questions faster and sharing key legal business updates with you promptly, we’re splitting our monthly newsletter in two.

Instead of one, big monthly newsletter, you’ll receive two, shorter ones; one mid-month and one at the beginning of the month.

We figure it’s the best way to help keep your business’s legal “i’s” dotted and “t’s” crossed. 🤝

So today, mid-month, we’re:

1. ✅ Giving you one legal reminder to check off your list. 

2. 📰 Summarizing a noteworthy piece of news (and why it’s relevant to you). 

3. 💸 Linking any funding opportunities we love.

At the beginning of next month, we’ll answer the question founders and business owners have asked us most the past month, give you a news update, and share a few upcoming events that could add value to your business.

Got a question you’d like us to answer next month? Just reply to this email and let us know.

1. Your September Legal Reminder:
Do you have contracts in place with your team members?
Do you understand what your rights are if things go wrong?

Yes, we know, contracts are never exactly the most thrilling part about bringing a new teammate on board.

BUT they do set up a roadmap showing you both what to do if things end up going south.

Here are five of the best things that a solid employee contract does for you and your businesses:

1. Gives clear expectations. 📝
   Clearly defining roles, responsibilities and expectations, reducing misunderstandings and disputes within your team.

2. Ensures you own your IP. 🧪
   Safeguarding your company's intellectual property, inventions and confidential information that your team members develop.

3. Prevents team members from joining competitors. 🙅‍♂️
   Including non-compete clauses prevents team members from joining competitors or starting similar businesses, protecting your company's competitive advantage.

4. Protects you if things go wrong. 😳
   In the event of disagreements or breaches, contracts provide a framework for resolution, potentially avoiding costly litigation.

5. Makes you look more professional. 👩‍💼
   Having contracts in place demonstrates professionalism and a serious commitment to the working relationship, fostering trust and accountability

We’ve worked with numerous startups that unfortunately did not have solid employment contracts in place; they end up having to spend at least 5x more sorting through employee complications than if they just had a clear and defined contract in place from the get-go.

So for your bank account’s sake, please get those employment contracts in place. 🙏

2. Noteworthy News:
Can policy-makers be convinced to make Europe an attractive place to IPO? 📈

BioNTech, Spotify, On Running, and Criteo are European tech success stories worth billions, yet they chose to go public in the U.S.

Funding has been extremely dry in Europe, and consequently having an IPO in Europe became an absolute anomaly; in 2021 alone, the US experienced more Tech IPOs than Europe did over the entire period from 2015 to 2023. 👀

Why? The U.S. offers larger capital pools, higher valuations, and a more integrated listing and trading ecosystem than EU and the UK.

But several of Europe’s top stock exchanges, including Deutsche Börse and Euronext, along with groups like France Digital and the European Startup Network, are begging for this to change. They’re asking for policies that strengthen Europe’s capital market and ease public listings and investments. 💪

And while the proposed reforms are a great starting point, the main problem for the future of IPOs and funding in Europe still hangs on the interest rates.

Central banks (European Central Bank included) have raised their interest rates in response to inflation. These higher interest rates have increased the cost of borrowing, making it more expensive for VC firms to raise capital. This also pushes investors towards safer, interest-bearing assets rather than riskier VC investments.

Ugh. Not what startups want to hear.

3. Funding Opportunities

We’ve just got one for you this month, but it’s a good one.

💰 The £100k Launchpad | Business Show London 2024: Whether you've just got an idea for a business or in the early stages of building your business, The £100,000 Launchpad offers you the opportunity to receive support and financial help to help you grow.

Happy businessing, see ya in October! 🫡

– The SuLe Team 

P.S. If you have questions about whether something in this email applies to your business, we’re just a free 15 min consultation away. ;)