So you are onboarding to Carta? Great!
You may have noticed that one of the first things we ask of you during the onboarding is to add your Law Firm. But why?
Legal counsel can help founders maintain their cap tables as their business grows, but that role becomes even more important when a new instance of the cap table is being created – particularly if it will be the definitive version going forward.
To err is human…
Founders can sometimes eschew assistance from a legal counsel when setting up their cap table in order to save money on legal fees.
While on paper that might not sound like a bad idea, it's worth keeping in mind that errors can be costly. In fact, research shows getting your legal counsel to fix errors in your cap table once it has been published is often more expensive than paying them to proofread it beforehand.
Long story short: what might seem like a good savings strategy now can turn into a headache later.
The bottom line
Let's face it: It's difficult to maintain a cap table alone, that's why we created several tools to facilitate this task. But in this important transitional step, founders should not forego the expertise of their legal counsels, who often know the insides and outs of the company's cap table.
So we recommend legal counsels be involved during the entire process of setting up your company to Carta. This can be especially important to ensure that there is a 1:1 match in the company's pre-Carta cap table and its new interface in the Carta platform.
Just before we go
Oh, and if you don't have a Law firm at this time, Carta can refer you to one of our partners during setup – you just need to let your Onboarding team know.
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Franco Guimaraes
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