Org Blueprint
R-034HumanLegalP0 · CriticalPartial

General Counsel

Owns the company's legal posture — corporate, commercial, employment, regulatory, and acquisition matters.

GrowthAcquisition

Due-diligence relevance

Diligence will demand a clean contract repository, current cap table, and a defensible regulatory posture. A startup with no GC and only external counsel at acquisition triggers a 'transitional services' line on the deal sheet and usually a 30-day extension to close. Hiring a GC before Series B is one of the highest-leverage governance moves a CEO can make.

Responsibilities

  • Corporate governance and board materials
  • Commercial contracts (customer, vendor, partner)
  • Employment and equity matters
  • Regulatory strategy (GDPR, EU AI Act, DSA, sector-specific)
  • M&A and financing legal lead

Inputs

  • · CEO direction
  • · Board direction
  • · Regulatory developments
  • · Deal flow

Outputs

  • · Negotiated contracts
  • · Compliance posture
  • · M&A diligence response

Qualifications

  • Qualified solicitor in EU + UK or US
  • Tech-company experience, ideally regulated (AI, fintech, healthtech)
  • Has run an M&A diligence response

KPIs

Contract turnaround timeOutside-counsel spend ratio

Interfaces