Last month, the Merton team had the opportunity to attend multiple events, including the Asena Family Office Launch and a thought-provoking panel discussion on Capital Raising in the US.

SAFE is an acronym for simple agreement for future equity. Like the name suggests, a SAFE Note is an equity financing instrument designed to accelerate the seed funding round for startups. It is a short, standard document used by entrepreneurs and investors as an alternative to convertible debt.

This month, we have welcomed a new team member to the Merton family in our conveyancing department and attended several events and masterclasses to kick off 2024.

Cofounder agreements are perhaps the most underrated document in the startup ecosystem. It is not uncommon for a startup to be reluctant to spend money on lawyers in the early stages. Why spend money on drafting agreements when there isn’t any money coming in yet?

But antagonism between cofounders can be the difference between the failure or success of your startup. According to Noam Wassermann, author of The Founder’s Dilemma, 65% of startups fail due to founder conflict.

That’s where a cofounder agreement comes in.

As the year 2023 comes to a close, we would like to thank you all for your ongoing support and share our final update for this year. We extend our warmest wishes for the holiday season and a safe, joyous New Year.

x

We zoomed through August and can hardly believe spring has arrived! We attended many events and are thrilled to announce that one of our team members is a finalist for the 2023 ALPMA awards.

The Victorian Homebuyer Fund (VHF) creates an opportunity to get into the housing market by sharing equity in the property with the Victorian Government. Equity is simply another way of labelling the ownership share in the property. By entering into this scheme, you will need to view your home buying journey with a different mindset. In effect you are purchasing a portion of your property now and purchasing the rest of it later from the Government.

The past month has been quite eventful for us at Merton Lawyers. We were thrilled to launch Project Frontier and welcome some new team members onboard.

Drag along and tag along rights are important forms of investment realisation in shareholders’ agreements. Tag along rights protect minority shareholders in the event that a majority shareholder (or a group of shareholders representing a majority) exits the company. Drag along rights, on the other hand, favour majority shareholders (or group of shareholders representing a majority) who want to compel minority shareholders to join a sale.

Reserved matters are key decision-making powers that are reserved in a shareholders’ agreement for the shareholders of a company. They ensure that certain matters or actions cannot be undertaken by the company or its subsidiaries without the approval or special majority of the shareholders.

A shareholders agreement may include restraint clauses which seek to prevent a shareholder from competing with the company, disclosing confidential information and/or soliciting the company’s clients or employees.

Exit mechanisms and options refer to the provisions and processes included in shareholders’ agreements which enable shareholders to exit a company and/or dispose of their shares. Exit mechanisms and options are crucial components of shareholders’ agreements because they provide shareholders with a means of realising the value of their investment in the company and provide a mechanism for transferring ownership of the company to new investors and shareholders.

As a founder, registering a trademark may not be your top priority, but it's critical to protecting your brand and intellectual property. A trademark is a symbol, logo, or word that distinguishes your company and its products or services from others. It’s essential to ensure the continuous success of your brand, and a registered trademark makes it much easier to protect your own properties and prevent others from duplicating them. However, there are several things to keep in mind before you register your trademark. Read on for our founder’s guide to registering a trademark.

As a founder, registering a trademark may not be your top priority, but it's critical to protecting your brand and intellectual property. A trademark is a symbol, logo, or word that distinguishes your company and its products or services from others. It’s essential to ensure the continuous success of your brand, and a registered trademark makes it much easier to protect your own properties and prevent others from duplicating them. However, there are several things to keep in mind before you register your trademark. Read on for our founder’s guide to registering a trademark.

Creating a successful product or service requires more than just an innovative idea. It must also answer a fundamental question: does it fit the market? This is where product-market fit comes in. Product-market fit is the alignment of a product or service with the needs and preferences of the target market. It’s the ability of a product to meet customer demands and solve their pain points. In short, it’s the key to success for any startup. In this article, we'll explore what product-market fit is, why it’s so important, and some examples of successful and unsuccessful product-market fit.

A well drafted shareholders’ agreement will include provisions pertaining the composition of the board of directors. Board composition clauses are essential for determining the governance structure and management of a company and play a crucial role in protecting the interests of shareholders.