Windward Charts · Free founder resources
A free, plain-English resource center for Texas founders and operators — guidance, document checklists, and a working glossary covering the whole lifecycle, from forming the entity to selling the company. Built by the partners who do this work, so you can come aboard already knowing the waters.
Why charts
From the earliest days of the ancient mariner, charts have been the difference between passage and peril. Sailing into uncharted waters has always been considered dangerous — unmapped territories bore the legend "There be Dragons." The better your charts, the better your passage.
At Windward, we help you plot the currents, the reefs, and the channels so you can navigate the business seas with confidence. Some trade routes are established — the sea lanes and channel markers are clear, and having a good chart of the route is simply efficient and sane. GPS may have replaced the sextant, but you still have to navigate the space between the rocks and open water. While we excel at guiding bold expeditions into less-charted territory, most businesses can operate in established sea lanes and enjoy clear sailing — if they have the right charts.
Choosing the right chart is a matter of understanding your ship, where you want to go, and how the voyage is financed. The more you engage with other people — customers, investors, ports of call — the more rules there are to navigate, and the more your need for good charts grows. Four factors shape the set you'll need:
Does your business operate in your community, your state, nationally, or internationally? Each ring outward adds waters to chart.
Retail, B2B, service, or manufacturing — the more people you engage, the more your charts must reflect. Commercial fishermen and cruise ships carry different charts.
Small, medium, large, Panamax+. The larger the vessel, the more restricted its movements near shore — and the safer it rides in open ocean.
Closely held, partnership, GP/LP, or broadly owned — structure is often dictated by the financing available, and the structure in turn shapes what financing you can reach.
Find your bearing
Every growing company sails the same passage. Pick the leg you are on and we will point you to what matters there — and what to have ready before you call us.
Choosing an entity and jurisdiction, founder equity and vesting, IP assignment, and the organizational documents that keep a clean cap table from day one.
Get started → STAGE 02NDAs, IP and licensing, MSAs and commercial agreements, terms of service and privacy — the paper that protects what you are building as you start to sell.
Get started → STAGE 03Offer letters, contractor vs. employee, equity incentive plans, advisor agreements, and option grants with the 83(b) mechanics handled correctly.
Get started → STAGE 04SAFEs and convertible notes, Regulation D private placements and PPMs, subscription documents, and the diligence file investors will actually ask for.
Get started → STAGE 05Board and stockholder consents, governance refreshes, fractional general counsel, and the recurring contract flow that comes with growth.
Get started → STAGE 06Buy- and sell-side M&A, letters of intent, diligence, definitive agreements, and the closing mechanics that get a deal across the line.
Get started →Curated & comprehensive
Focused sets of guidance and document checklists on the challenges founders and operators hit again and again.
Texas LLC vs. Delaware C-corp, the trade-offs, and the full organizational document set — when to convert, and why.
7 resources EquityOption pools, vesting, 83(b) elections, and the grant mechanics that keep early equity clean and defensible.
6 resources FundraisingHow the instruments differ, what the key terms actually do, and what to negotiate before you sign a term sheet.
8 resources Securities506(b) vs. 506(c), what belongs in a PPM, Form D and blue sky filings, and the diligence file that survives review.
9 resources EnergyLeases, assignments, working vs. royalty interests, and the lithium and brine terms specific to the Smackover play.
6 resources Real estateSponsor structures, waterfalls, SPE formation, and how a real estate raise intersects with securities law.
5 resourcesDocument checklists
The full organizational set for a Texas or Delaware entity — what each document does and the order to sign them.
What to settle before a SAFE round — valuation cap, discount, side letters, and board and stockholder consents.
Restricted stock purchase, vesting schedule, and the 83(b) election with its 30-day clock you cannot miss.
PPM, subscription agreement, investor questionnaire, Form D, and the bad-actor and blue sky items that go with them.
Offer letter, PIIA, contractor agreement, and the classification test that keeps you out of trouble later.
The diligence checklist a buyer will run — cap table, contracts, IP, and consents — assembled before the LOI, not after.
These checklists tell you what a matter involves and what to gather. When you are ready to have it drafted, every item above is a fixed-fee engagement on our published schedule — quoted before any work begins.
Established sea lanes
The bulk of capital and business moves through established lanes — with channel markers, harbor rules, and charts that already exist. If your situation matches one of these, we have a set of charts ready to go.
The cruise ship — engaging many passengers, with defined ports of call.
A venture company seeking growth toward a US exchange listing or acquisition by a public company. Over half of all IPOs were venture-funded, and this journey has well-defined safe harbors and channels. There is always room for more — but venturing outside the established ports is perilous.
The tugboat — built to a proven form, because form follows function.
Fund structures with established norms that sponsors and investors all understand and expect. A sponsor — or a company seeking capital from a fund — that strays from the established sea lanes often simply misses the boat.
The shipping company offering shares in vessels of the fleet.
A skilled operator invites limited partners into a common enterprise — real estate syndications, oil and gas drilling funds, franchise development. Risk spans the spectrum, from the inter-bay ferry milk run that is a cash cow to the spice-trade voyage upon which fortunes are made.
Two shipping companies, two ships each, one perilous spice run — shared risk.
Joint ventures between business peers, and as a result often bespoke. Contribute assets, spread the risk, and structure it so only one ship needs to return for the venture to succeed.
A well-found boat in home waters — latitude in how it operates.
A solo or closely held firm is often most concerned with keeping the vessel safe — asset protection, avoiding forfeiture, clean ownership. The charts for this journey are different, but well defined for those not sailing off the edge of the map. An established business in familiar waters may not need new charts at all — until the harbor is dredged, a reef shifts, or a storm changes the environment (always a hazard whenever Congress is in session).
Doesn't match any of these? That may mean you're an exploration venture — the expeditions we most enjoy guiding. Tell us about the voyage below and we'll determine whether an existing chart fits or bespoke navigation is called for.
Plain-English glossary
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Chart my course
Rather than handing you a static stack of documents, we start with your ship and your destination. Tell us about the business in your own words — the more you share, the better the chart we can draw. We'll come back with an initial course: which lane you're in, what the passage involves, and a fixed quote for the first leg.
Windward Charts is provided free of charge for general educational purposes only. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney–client relationship, and may not reflect the most current legal developments or the law of your jurisdiction. Checklists and glossary entries are simplified summaries, not substitutes for advice on your specific situation. Consult a licensed attorney before acting. Attorney advertising.