Here are some options:
* We can ask if our legal providers would be willing to do a pro bono call and answer some high level questions. There may be conflicts however, if our law firms also provide counsel to the company you’re trying to exit.
* Secondly, we have a bunch of legal experts in the vault that you can reach out to and set up time with to get their advice.
We actually have 2 founder CEOs -- Mike from Cryptomove and Russ from Clarity who are former corporate counsel lawyers and now current CEOs. They would probably know best practices here.
* Thirdly we have a network of freelance corporate counsel that charge hourly rates for help. They might charge a fee. You can see the full list here.
In our experience, when you leave you normally will sign a release of claims to the company and in exchange the company may give you a sweetener of compensation or equity and that release is an opportunity to tie up any questioning issues around your stock. But if you stock plans are all standard and clean, you should be fine. The only issue normally is you need to buy your shares within a short window after leaving if you are 83(b) elected or you lose them.
Here’s some steps on the process:
Get a good attorney (not to represent the company, but to represent you)
Figure out what everyone is entitled to -- vested stock, past wages (if applicable), bonuses, board positions, etc
Get all supporting paperwork
Figure out who is staying in the company, or if the company would dissolve, or what -- this determines how to manage the situation with investors, employees, customers, etc
Agree on a timeline to sort everything out, and a common/cool language to explain the split/separation
Put all paperwork in place and sign it
Expect this to take ~4 months if you instruct your attorney to negotiate heavily. Try to get your attorney to agree on a capped fee ($5k) and that if you go over that amount your attorney needs to consult with you first. Also get the attorney to agree to deferring fees until you get paid by the company.
Separations are often emotional (just as running a startup!) and the best piece of advice is to get an attorney to handle the back and forth.