Project Collaboration Agreement for new projects with two partners
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Checkout this list of companies started during the Great Recession:
Airbnb, Cloudflare, Github, Sendgrid, Square, Stripe, Twilio, Uber, WhatsApp
And that’s only the ones that I felt like you’d probably recognize!
So with the 2020 recession seemingly underway, it’s time to start thinking about the great new projects you’re going to start in your newfound free time. I mean, focusing on that side project is gonna be fun and easy when you’re stuck in coronavirus quarantine! Assuming you don’t have kids, anyway.
Seriously though, regardless of when they happen or under what circumstances (dire or otherwise) many new projects start out as two-person, product-oriented startups.
I’ve had my fair share of these kinds of startup projects and I like to apply lean startup principles right from the start. If you’re not sure whether you have a viable product idea, I just don’t think there’s any sense in jumping through legal hurdles right from the start.
For those situations I developed a lightweight contract called a Project Collaboration Agreement. It’s not meant to be bulletproof or full of legalese, but it is legally binding. It establishes reasonable terms for an admittedly informal partnership on more than a handshake basis. As you’ll see when you read it, terms for evolving into something more than just a side project are included.
Before going any further I must advise you that I’m not a lawyer, so don’t take this blog post as legal advice. If you decide to use the template I’m about to share with you, my suggestion is that you get it reviewed by your own lawyer to make sure it works for your situation and in your jurisdiction.
Cool? Okay, so here it is:
Template
PRODUCT NAME Project Collaboration Agreement
This project collaboration agreement, entered into on __________________ is by and between the following entities:
PARTNER ONE
123 Foo St
Anytown, ST 00000 USAPARTNER TWO
456 Bar St
Anytown, ST 00000 USA1. We hereby agree to…
