Maximizing Your Potential -12 Tips For Building A Successful Start-Up

Do things right from the beginning, because there are certain things which, if neglected, cannot be undone, and WILL affect your upside in the future. Besides hiring people smarter than you, who are a good cultural fit, keep the following twelve tips in mind:

1. Incorporate a legal entity that is well known to investors and flexible ("AG", rather than "GmbH"). Make sure that all IPs generated pre-incorporation are correctly transferred to the company. Make sure that from the very beginning any and all shares are covered by a state of the art Shareholders Agreement ( including drag along).

2. Define the short, medium and long term funding strategy at the beginning. Developing an appropriate funding strategy is crucial to the success of your company and will impact who controls the company and your upside on exit.