guibert.law

Start-up Advisory

From idea to market-ready company — legal, engineering, and business strategy in one relationship

"A product does not a company make."

Most technology founders are brilliant engineers or scientists. They build a product that works. And then the hard part begins — because a working product and a viable, fundable, scalable company are two completely different things, governed by completely different rules.

guibert.law exists at this exact intersection. The practice brings legal counsel, engineering depth, and business strategy to early-stage and growth-stage technology ventures — not as three separate advisors, but as one relationship that understands how all three connect.

Entity formation & structure

Delaware vs. Michigan, LLC vs. C-Corp, equity splits, founder agreements — built for where you want to go, not just where you are today.

IP strategy from day one

Trade secret identification, patent filing strategy, open-source compliance, and employment IP assignment — before the first line of code ships.

Investor-ready legal infrastructure

Cap table hygiene, vesting schedules, SAFE/convertible note structuring, and due diligence preparation — so your Series A doesn't stall on fixable legal issues.

Outside general counsel

Ongoing legal coverage across all areas as your company grows — without the cost of an in-house team.

Who the practice serves

Three types of start-up clients

The engineer-founder

You have a product idea and you are trying to set up a company to reach the marketplace.

You understand the technology cold. What you need is someone who can meet you at the engineering level and then guide you through everything else: the legal structure that protects your invention, the IP strategy that builds defensible value, the funding mechanics that don't give away the company, and the regulatory environment your product must navigate to reach market.

The technical decision-maker

You make engineering decisions and need to know they don't clash with societal guardrails.

Technology is never deployed in a vacuum. It is subject to the expectations of the market, authorities, and regulators. Whether you are an engineering manager choosing a safety architecture, a product leader deciding on a data collection strategy, or a CTO evaluating open-source dependencies, guibert.law can help you understand the legal dimensions of technical choices before they become legal problems.

In-house counsel at tech companies

You are grappling with legal questions you can't fully evaluate without engineering fluency.

Issue spotting in technology law requires understanding the engineering. When your company's activities raise questions about functional safety liability, automotive cybersecurity compliance, IP ownership in AI-generated outputs, or the legal significance of a HARA deviation, you need outside counsel who can read the technical documentation and tell you what it means legally — without needing a separate engineering interpreter.

Start-up lifecycle coverage

From formation to growth

Stage 01

Inception

  • ▸ Entity selection & formation
  • ▸ Founder agreements
  • ▸ IP assignment agreements
  • ▸ Trade secret identification
  • ▸ Initial patent strategy
Stage 02

Product Development

  • ▸ Open-source compliance
  • ▸ Vendor & NDA agreements
  • ▸ Regulatory pathway planning
  • ▸ Safety standard advisory
  • ▸ Data privacy architecture
Stage 03

Fundraising

  • ▸ SAFE & convertible notes
  • ▸ Private placement / Reg D
  • ▸ Cap table management
  • ▸ Due diligence preparation
  • ▸ Investor agreements
Stage 04

Scale & Growth

  • ▸ Outside general counsel
  • ▸ International expansion
  • ▸ IP portfolio management
  • ▸ SEC filings & compliance
  • ▸ M&A & tech transfers

Ready to build the company around the product?

Initial consultations are scoped to your stage — no boilerplate, no billable surprises.

Schedule a consultation