1
Founder-level structure call
Sixty to ninety minutes. Who owns what, the vesting plan, the board structure, how deadlocks resolve, and the exit horizon. The structure is the hard part; the drafting follows from it.
Shareholder agreements · Founders + investors
Lock in the rules before the relationship gets tested.
Attorney-drafted shareholders' agreements between founders, investors, and co-owners. We draft vesting, transfer restrictions, ROFR, drag-along, tag-along, board composition, dividend policy, and deadlock resolution. Commercial terms stay your call; we put them into an enforceable contract.
From $1,200 Standard SHA; complex multi-class deals quoted upfront
Rights defined
Drag, tag, pre-emption
Deadlock solved
Exit mechanics set
Cap-table clean
Ownership clear
Legal team
GTC's corporate team
Corporate & M&A counsel
$2.5M+ raised10,747+ clients11 attorneys
$2.5M+ raised10,747+ clients11 attorneys10+ years
IIPLA Top IP Consultancy 2026Upwork · Top Rated Plus
Trusted by founders and brands worldwide
How it works
Three steps to a working SHA.
2
Drafting + founder review
The SHA is drafted to the agreed structure, in parallel with your articles so the two do not conflict. All founders review it before it goes out to investors, if applicable.
3
Negotiation + execution
One round of investor or co-shareholder revisions is included. The final SHA is executed and stored in the company's corporate records, ready to bind new shareholders as they join.
What it costs
Flat-fee SHA drafting, quoted by scope
Shareholder Agreement starts from $1,200. A standard founders' SHA is a flat fee, quoted before any work starts. Multi-class and multi-investor deals are scoped on the structure call and quoted upfront, so you approve the fee before drafting begins. Any government, registration, or filing fees are passed through at cost.
What's included
- Founder vesting and reverse-vesting terms (four-year, one-year cliff is standard)
- Share transfer restrictions: lock-in, board approval, ROFR, and ROFO
- Drag-along (forced sale) and tag-along (forced participation) clauses
- Board composition, voting rights, observer rights, and reserved matters
- Dividend policy and distribution waterfall mechanics
- Deadlock resolution: buyout, shotgun, mediation, or arbitration
- Founder departure: good-leaver, bad-leaver, and orderly-exit mechanics
- Exit triggers: IPO, trade sale, and change of control
- One round of investor or co-shareholder revisions
- Standard SHA (founders only, single class)
- Flat fee, quoted upfront
- Founders + first investors SHA (single investor class)
- Quoted by scope
- Multi-investor SHA (Series A, multiple investors)
- Quoted by scope
- Joint venture / multi-party SHA
- Quoted by scope
- SHA amendment (e.g. adding a new investor)
- Quoted by scope
- Government / registration / filing fees
- Passed through at cost
GTC drafts the agreement and advises on legal structure. Commercial terms and the decision to proceed are the client's. This is not investment advice and no deal outcome is guaranteed.
Get started
Draft your shareholder agreement
Tell us about the company and the shareholders and a GTC attorney will draft the SHA and email a flat-fee quote.
No payment required Reply within 1 business dayA GTC attorney reviews it & sends a flat-fee quote.
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01Brand details
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02Documents
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03Your details
Already have an executed term sheet or a draft cap table? Share it and we can scope the SHA faster.
Brand details
1
E.g. 'ACME Inc. — Series A SHA', 'Founders' Agreement — Beta Co'.
2
Drives standard provisions.
3
Helps us understand the negotiation dynamics.
4
List shareholders + their roles (founder / investor / employee). Brief description of each.
5
Pick all that apply.
Why GTC
Why founders draft the SHA with GTC.
Legal team
GTC's corporate team
Corporate & M&A counsel
Attorney-led
Drafted by attorneys, not a template
A GTC attorney drafts every clause to your cap table and stage. Vesting, ROFR, drag-along, tag-along, and reserved matters are tuned to the company, not pulled from a generic form.
Aligned with your articles
The SHA is drafted alongside your articles or bylaws so the private contract and the public corporate documents do not contradict each other. Conflicts between the two are where governance disputes start.
Deadlock and exit built in
Good-leaver and bad-leaver mechanics, buyout, shotgun, mediation, and arbitration paths are drafted before they are needed. Exit triggers for IPO, trade sale, and change of control are set up front.
Investor-ready from day one
Reverse-vesting, transfer restrictions, and board composition are drafted the way VC term sheets expect, so the SHA holds up when investors diligence it rather than needing a rewrite.
Your Customer Success Team
A dedicated team that owns your matter from start to finish.
Every GTC client gets a dedicated Account Manager and a Senior Account Manager who learn your business and stay with you from first email to final filing. They are named people who pick up the phone and already know your matter, so every step moves forward without delay.
Your Account Manager
Your day-to-day point of contact, who coordinates every matter, keeps things moving, and already knows your file. They have your full history, so you start every conversation where the last one left off.
Your Senior Account Manager
Senior oversight on strategy and escalations, stepping in as your needs grow, so every important detail stays on track.
A named person, on email or a call, at every step.
How we compare
GTC vs. the alternatives
| What you get | GTC | Online filing services | Doing it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney drafts to your cap table and stage | Big-firm corporate team: yes, at a higher rate | Big-firm corporate team: yes, at a higher rate | |
| Flat-fee quote before work starts | |||
| SHA drafted in parallel with your articles | DIY templates: no — conflicts go unnoticed | DIY templates: no — conflicts go unnoticed | |
| Vesting, ROFR, drag/tag, reserved matters covered | DIY templates: partial, generic clauses | DIY templates: partial, generic clauses | |
| Deadlock and good-leaver/bad-leaver mechanics | |||
| One round of investor revisions included |
Attorney drafts to your cap table and stage
GTC
Online filing services
Big-firm corporate team: yes, at a higher rate
Doing it yourself
Big-firm corporate team: yes, at a higher rate
Flat-fee quote before work starts
GTC
Online filing services
Doing it yourself
SHA drafted in parallel with your articles
GTC
Online filing services
DIY templates: no — conflicts go unnoticed
Doing it yourself
DIY templates: no — conflicts go unnoticed
Vesting, ROFR, drag/tag, reserved matters covered
GTC
Online filing services
DIY templates: partial, generic clauses
Doing it yourself
DIY templates: partial, generic clauses
Deadlock and good-leaver/bad-leaver mechanics
GTC
Online filing services
Doing it yourself
One round of investor revisions included
GTC
Online filing services
Doing it yourself
The timeline
From structure call to executed SHA.
The hard part is the founder-level conversation; once the structure is agreed, drafting is quick.
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Day 0
Founder-level structure call
Sixty to ninety minutes. Who owns what, the vesting plan, the board structure, how deadlocks resolve, and the exit horizon.
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~1 week
Drafting + founder review
The SHA is drafted to the agreed structure, in parallel with your articles so the two do not conflict.
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1 round included
Investor / co-shareholder revisions
One round of revisions from investors or co-shareholders is included in the fee.
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On signing
Execution + records
The final SHA is executed and stored in the company's corporate records, ready to bind new shareholders as they join.
In their words
All your legal, in one place.
One accountable team across every practice, operating since 2016.
$2.5M+
M&A & fundraising
10,747+
Clients served
11
In-house attorneys
10+
Years since 2016
Shareholder Agreement FAQ
Frequently asked questions
These terms are often used interchangeably. A founders' agreement is usually a lighter pre-incorporation document. An SHA is the formal post-incorporation governance contract. A shareholder rights agreement is an investor-side contract focused on minority-shareholder protections, often layered on top of an SHA. We draft whichever is right for your stage.
Shareholder agreements
Ready when you are.
Draft the SHA properly — before the relationship gets tested. Book a structure call and a GTC attorney will draft the agreement and send a flat-fee quote.
