legalIs it foolish for one cofounder to trust the lawyer to get the startup incoporated and create a cofounder agreement if the other cofounder is going to pay for the lawyer?
I am at the point where it might have to back out of the startup if I will need to spend the money on a lawyer.
Since I am told by more that one person that 95% of start ups do not go on to succeed, I have no interest in spending money on it.
I don’t want to be at risk so unless I find a solution, I do not know how I can proceed.
Can one trust the lawyer to make a cofounder agreement if the other cofounder is paying him?
Perfectly sensible. Just see to it that the agreement is mutual rather than one-way, i.e.:
Cofounders agree that […]
Rather than things like:
[SingleParty] agrees to […]
Aside: you really need to trust your cofounder, else things are pretty much guaranteed to go wrong down the road.
No, it is not foolish. You will eventually have to sign off on the agreement anyway - so if it seems fair and reasonable, simply move forward. If not, ask for a revision to your liking or walk away.
But it seems you have enough doubt to question your cofounder before you even start. This should be a red flag, as one of the major reasons for startup failure is a falling out between founders.
This comes down to you - whether you trust the person or not. If not, you could be setting yourself up for failure. Good luck.
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