Humanmade Founder Session - Legal Foundations w/ Fellow Legal
From Prototype to First Deals: Legal Decisions for Hardware Founders
Your first customer, manufacturing partner, or investor can bring new opportunities—and decisions that shape the future of your company.
Join Humanmade for a Founder Session with Fellow Legal, a Bay Area law firm working with startups and their investors, for a practical conversation about the legal questions founders encounter as they move from building a prototype to building a business.
We’ll explore what to consider before signing a pilot agreement, committing to a supplier, or bringing an outside engineer onto your project. Topics will include protecting ownership of your work, setting clear expectations with customers and collaborators, and recognizing contract terms that can create challenges as your company grows.
We’ll also discuss preparing for fundraising: organizing company records, documenting founder and advisor equity, and understanding the questions that come up when investors begin looking more closely at your business. Throughout the conversation, we’ll focus on how early-stage founders can prioritize their legal needs and recognize when it’s time to seek help.
Whether you’re testing your first product, preparing for production, or thinking about raising capital, this session will help you approach your next business milestone with clearer questions and practical next steps.
Bring your questions for an open discussion, followed by time to meet other founders, builders, and members of the local hardware community.
About Humanmade Founder Sessions
Part of the Humanmade Hardware Accelerator, this series connects early-stage product builders with experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and specialists. Sessions offer practical perspectives on developing products and growing companies, with participation welcomed from across the hardware community.
Schedule
4:30 PM — Arrival and community networking
5:00 PM — Conversation with Fellow Legal
6:00 PM — Founder questions and discussion
6:30 PM — Continued networking
Humanmade’s Accelerator receives support through California’s Accelerate CA initiative.
Funded in part through a Grant with the California Office of the Small Business Advocate.