More than 5 million new business applications were filed in the United States in 2025. All of those founders need to understand the legal documentation required to launch and run their businesses. This starts with formation documents that establish the company's legal structure – whether a corporation or an LLC – along with the agreements that define ownership, investor equity, and intellectual property rights. Beyond these foundational documents, startups also need paperwork covering employment, data protection, and industry-specific regulatory compliance.

The right documentation matters because it protects founders from personal liability, prevents disputes over ownership and roles, and keeps the business compliant with the laws it's subject to. It also signals professionalism and legitimacy to investors, customers, and partners – making the company easier to trust and do business with. Below, we’ll list the primary legal documents founders may need while setting up and running businesses in the US.

What's in this article?

• Company formation and governing documents
  
• Intellectual property assignment agreements
  
• Confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements
  
• Employee agreements and offer letters
  
• Shareholder and founder agreements
  
• Fundraising and investor documents
  
• How Stripe Atlas can help
  

Company formation and governing documents

Company formation and governing documents form the backbone of a company's legal and organizational structure. A few of these – the articles of incorporation, bylaws or operating agreement, and founders' agreement – are foundational, since they create the entity and establish how it's run. The rest support day-to-day governance and compliance as the company operates.

Articles of incorporation or articles of organisation: This document legally creates the entity, filed with the state. Nothing else on this list matters until this exists, since the business has no legal identity without it. It outlines basic details such as name, purpose, and structure, and its precise requirements vary depending on whether you're forming a corporation or an LLC.

Bylaws (for corporations) or operating agreements (for LLCs): Once the entity exists, this document establishes how it runs: the roles of directors and officers, meeting protocols, voting thresholds, and how decisions get made. It's the internal rulebook that governs the company's operations for as long as it exists and is amended as the company grows.

Founders’ agreement: For startups with multiple founders, this is arguably the most important document. It locks in equity splits, roles, responsibilities, vesting schedules, and what happens if a founder leaves before emotions or disagreements make those conversations harder. It's typically negotiated before or alongside incorporation.

Supporting documents

• Board of directors’ meeting minutes: Records of decisions and actions taken by the board

• Shareholder agreements: Cover shareholders rights, share transfer provisions, decision-making, and dispute resolution

• Stock certificates: Represent ownership of shares for corporations issuing stock

• Business licences and permits: Vary by business type and location; required to operate legally

Tax administration

Once formed, many companies also need to register for an employer identification number (EIN) with the IRS, a federal tax ID required for filing taxes, hiring employees, and opening a business bank account. It's a quick, free application directly through the IRS.

Intellectual property assignment agreements

Intellectual property (IP) assignment agreements clarify and protect the company's legal ownership of intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Investors often scrutinize IP assignment as part of due diligence, since a company that doesn't clearly own its IP – including the work of past founders, employees, or contractors – can be a red flag that lowers valuation or stalls a deal.

• Patent, trademark, and copyright assignments: These transfer ownership of patent-protected inventions, trademarks (e.g., logos or brand names), and copyrighted works (e.g., written, musical, artistic, or other creative output) from individual creators to the company.

• Trade secret agreements: These prohibit employees or contractors from disclosing or misusing trade secrets, defined as valuable, confidential business information.

• Invention, software, and work-for-hire assignment agreements: These establish that inventions, software, and other work products created by employees or contractors during their employment or engagement belong to the company, not the individual who created it. They often include confidentiality clauses as well, to protect the underlying information until the assignment is finalised.

Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements

Confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) protect a company's sensitive information by legally binding informed parties to confidentiality.

• Employee NDAs: These prohibit employees from disclosing or misusing confidential information both during and after their employment, and are typically signed at the start of employment as well as reinforced at exit.

• Third-party NDAs: These cover contractors, consultants, vendors, and prospective investors, prohibiting anyone outside the company from disclosing or misusing confidential information – such as business plans, product details, or other sensitive data – that they access while working with or evaluating the company.

• Mutual NDAs: These prohibit both parties from disclosing the other's confidential information and are commonly used during negotiations or partnerships with other businesses where information flows in both directions.

Employee agreements and offer letters

These documents define the relationship between employer and employee. They dictate roles, responsibilities, and expectations for the terms of employment.

• Employment offer letters: The initial document provided to a candidate, outlining the terms of the employment offer including position, salary, start date, and other conditions.

• Employment agreements: A more detailed contract executed after an offer is accepted, covering job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, termination conditions, and confidentiality obligations.

• Noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements: Noncompetes restrict employees from working for a competitor or starting a competing business for a period after leaving the company; nonsolicitation agreements prevent former employees from soliciting the company's clients or employees. The enforceability of noncompetes varies significantly by state. A handful of states treat virtually all employee noncompetes as void, while many others enforce them only above certain wage thresholds or under “reasonableness” standards for scope and duration. Because of this patchwork, startups with multistate teams should confirm noncompete enforceability with counsel.

• Arbitration agreements: These stipulate that employment disputes will be resolved through arbitration rather than court litigation, often included as a clause within the employment agreement itself.

As a company matures, it will also typically develop performance improvement plans (PIPs) to formalise performance expectations, severance agreements to govern the terms of a departure, and internship agreements for short-term or academic-credit roles. These are less central to company formation and become relevant once the business is operating and managing a workforce.

Shareholder and founder agreements

Shareholder and founder agreements define the relationship between shareholders and the company. They also detail the roles, rights, and responsibilities for all involved parties, particularly when it comes to the sale or transfer of shares.

Before diving into formal equity agreements, many early-stage US startups raise their first outside capital using a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) rather than a priced equity round. SAFEs let investors provide funding in exchange for the right to receive equity at a later date (typically at the next priced round) without the two sides needing to agree on a valuation up-front. As a result, SAFEs are faster and cheaper to execute than a full stock purchase. Stripe Atlas founders can create a SAFE from the Fundraising tab in their Atlas Dashboard, send it to investors and company signers for e-signature, and track its status using the Y Combinator-drafted template for post-money SAFEs with valuation caps.

Once a company moves beyond SAFEs into priced rounds or more formal equity structures, the following documents typically come into play:

• Stock purchase agreements: A stock purchase agreement documents the details of a sale or transfer of shares between the company and its shareholders. It includes the number of shares sold, the price, and other terms of the sale.

• Investors rights agreements: Typically used in venture capital deals, an investors rights agreement outlines investors’ information rights, rights of first refusal, and cosale rights.

• Voting agreements: A voting agreement specifies how shareholders will vote their shares on certain issues. It’s often used to ensure that founding shareholders retain control over specific decisions.

• First refusal and cosale agreements: This type of agreement gives existing shareholders the right to purchase shares before they are sold to an outside party (right of first refusal), and it allows shareholders to join in (cosale) if another shareholder sells their shares.

• Stock option plans (ESOPs): These grant employees the option to purchase company stock at a set price. They’re often used as a tool for attracting and retaining talent.

Fundraising and investor documents

Fundraising and investor documents govern how a startup raises capital and what investors receive in exchange. For preseed and seed-stage companies especially, these are often the first substantive legal documents signed after incorporation.

• Term sheets: A term sheet is a nonbinding document that outlines the key proposed terms of an investment, including valuation, investment amount, and investor rights, before the parties draft full legal agreements. It serves as the framework both sides negotiate from, so it's typically the starting point of any priced funding round.

• SAFEs: A SAFE lets an investor provide funding today in exchange for the right to receive equity later, usually at the company's next priced round, without requiring the parties to agree on a valuation up-front. It's the most common instrument for early-stage US startups because it's faster and cheaper to execute than a full equity round.

• Convertible notes: A convertible note is a short-term debt instrument that converts into equity at a future date, typically at a discount or valuation cap tied to a later financing round. Unlike a SAFE, it's technically a loan and usually accrues interest and carries a maturity date, which is why many startups have shifted toward SAFEs for simplicity.

• Investors’ rights agreements: Typically used once a company closes a priced round, this agreement outlines investors' ongoing rights, such as information rights, rights of first refusal on future share sales, and cosale (or “tagalong”) rights.

How Stripe Atlas can help

Stripe Atlas sets up your company's legal foundations so you can fundraise, open a bank account and accept payments within two business days from anywhere in the world.

Join 75K+ companies incorporated using Atlas, including startups backed by top investors like Y Combinator, a16z and General Catalyst.

Applying to Atlas

Applying to form a company with Atlas takes less than 10 minutes. You'll choose your company structure, instantly confirm whether your company name is available and add up to four co-founders. You'll also decide how to split equity, reserve a pool of equity for future investors and employees, appoint officers and then e-sign all your documents. Any co-founders will receive emails inviting them to e-sign their documents, too.

Accepting payments and banking before your EIN arrives

After forming your company, Atlas files for your EIN. Founders with a US Social Security number, address and mobile phone number are eligible for IRS expedited processing, while others will receive standard processing, which can take a little longer. Additionally, Atlas enables pre-EIN payments and banking, so you can start accepting payments and making transactions before your EIN arrives.

Cashless founder stock purchase

Founders can purchase initial shares using their intellectual property (e.g. copyrights or patents) instead of cash, with proof of purchase stored in your Atlas Dashboard. Your IP must be valued at $100 or less to use this feature; if you own IP above that value, consult a lawyer before proceeding.

Automatic 83(b) tax election filing

Founders can file an 83(b) tax election to reduce personal income taxes. Atlas will file it for you – whether you are a US or non-US founder – with USPS Certified Mail and tracking. You'll receive a signed 83(b) election and proof of filing directly in the Stripe Dashboard.

World-class company legal documents

Atlas provides all the legal documents you need to start running your company. Atlas C corp documents are built in collaboration with Cooley, one of the world's leading venture capital law firms. These documents are designed to help you fundraise immediately and ensure your company is legally protected, covering aspects like ownership structure, equity distribution and tax compliance.

A free year of Stripe Payments, plus $50K in partner credits and discounts

Atlas collaborates with top-tier partners to give founders exclusive discounts and credits. These include discounts on essential tools for engineering, tax, finance, compliance and operations from industry leaders like AWS, Carta and Perplexity. We also provide you with your required Delaware registered agent for free in your first year. Plus, as an Atlas user, you'll access additional Stripe benefits, including up to a year of free payment processing for up to $100K in payments volume.

Learn more about how Atlas can help you set up your new business quickly and easily and get started today.