Lifecycle of a tech startup series: Case study

Welcome to the first in a series of blogs on the lifecycle of a tech startup.

You have recently founded a business with 2 others, Chris and Sarah. Chris is a good friend you went to university with and Sarah you met more recently but has also become a good friend. Your background is design, Chris’ background is engineering and Sarah is a developer.

Your idea is to produce a wearable wellbeing device. In fact, you have already produced designs for it. This device will link to a web based platform (and eventually an app), which Sarah is already building. One of Sarah’s developer friends has also been helping her, but she is likely to need more help going forward.

Although you are all based in the UK, you plan to ship internationally and may eventually need staff abroad. You expect the product to be a B2C (business to consumer) product, but are open minded should things develop differently.

COVID has meant you have re-evaluated your priorities and you have all agreed it is time to focus on this idea. You would like to ‘formalise’ things, but aren’t too sure of next steps. Although none of you have funds to invest in this venture, you have all agreed that this will be your main focus for the next 6 months and to work on this for free. You all plan to earn an income by carrying out some consulting work provided this doesn’t interfere with the business.  

So now you’ve met the founders and their fictitious business, read the next blog in the series where we address ‘the basics’.

About the Author

Roberta advises startup founders, angel investors and established businesses on a variety of corporate and commercial legal matters. She advises on early stage investments, share option schemes, shareholder agreements, share buybacks and company sales and acquisitions.