# Goodvernance

> Goodvernance helps early cofounders create a Founder Agreement before incorporation, then sign it and keep it alive. Founders agree on equity, vesting, IP, assets and decision-making, sign with secure per-founder links, and the signed agreement becomes a living dashboard that tracks vesting, simulates departures, and records amendments. Build → Sign → Live.

Goodvernance is a pre-incorporation tool for startup founders (2 to 4 cofounders). It turns the founder handshake into a clear, signed, living agreement. It is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. It does not incorporate a company, issue shares, or create a stock ledger. Built by Ilyès Dogheche, a startup lawyer specialized in founder conflicts.

## What Goodvernance does
- Guided builder: answer plain-language questions about roles, equity split, vesting, cliff, IP, assets, decisions and deadlock. No account needed to start.
- Generate a clean, readable Founder Agreement from those answers.
- Invite cofounders to sign with a unique secure link delivered by email. Only the mailbox owner can sign.
- Once all founders sign, the agreement becomes active and unlocks a living dashboard.
- Living dashboard (Goodvernance Live): vesting tracker, founder departure simulator, IP and asset visibility, Amendment Center, version history, audit trail, Founder Governance Pack export.

## The 12 protections in a Goodvernance Founder Agreement
1. Pre-incorporation status — clarifies no company exists yet.
2. Founder roles and commitments — who is a founder and their time commitment.
3. Intended founder equity split — the agreed split, in writing.
4. Vesting and cliff — equity earned over time, standard four-year vesting with a one-year cliff.
5. Founder departure before incorporation — what happens if a cofounder leaves early.
6. Forfeiture of unearned founder equity — unearned shares return to the team.
7. Project IP and covenant to assign — the startup owns the product, not one founder.
8. Project assets and access handover — domains, repos, cloud accounts stay with the project.
9. Decision-making and reserved matters — which big decisions need everyone's approval.
10. Deadlock escalation — a process for when founders get stuck.
11. Amendments and versioning — change the deal properly, with everyone signing off.
12. Electronic signature and platform records — signed, timestamped, recorded.

## Pricing
- Build: free. Full guided builder, all 12 protections, live preview, no account required.
- Founder Agreement: $99 one-time. Agreement generation, cofounder invitations, e-signature, signed PDF export. Includes the first month of Goodvernance Live.
- Goodvernance Live: $29 per month per company after the first month. Living dashboard, vesting tracker, departure simulator, Amendment Center, version history, audit trail. Cancel anytime.

## Core pages
- [Home](https://www.goodvernance.com/): From handshake to live agreement. Create, sign and run a Founder Agreement before incorporation.
- [Builder](https://www.goodvernance.com/builder): The free guided Founder Agreement builder. No account needed to start.
- [Pricing](https://www.goodvernance.com/pricing): Build free, Sign $99 one-time, Live $29/month per company.
- [GoodFounders](https://www.goodvernance.com/goodfounders): The community and educational hub for founders who make trust work.
- [About](https://www.goodvernance.com/about): The thesis and the team, built by a startup lawyer.
- [Contact](https://www.goodvernance.com/contact): Get in touch.

## GoodFounders educational articles
Short, practical answers to common founder governance questions.
- [A Founder Agreement Should Not Be a Dead PDF](https://www.goodvernance.com/goodfounders/founder-agreement-should-not-be-a-dead-pdf): Why a founder agreement should be a living document, not a forgotten PDF.
- [What Is Founder Vesting](https://www.goodvernance.com/goodfounders/what-is-founder-vesting): How founders earn equity over time and why every startup needs vesting.
- [What Is a Vesting Cliff](https://www.goodvernance.com/goodfounders/what-is-a-vesting-cliff): The one-year cliff explained, and why it protects the team.
- [What Happens When a Cofounder Leaves Early](https://www.goodvernance.com/goodfounders/what-happens-when-a-cofounder-leaves-early): What happens to equity when a cofounder leaves, with and without vesting.
- [Do You Need a Founder Agreement Before Incorporating](https://www.goodvernance.com/goodfounders/do-you-need-a-founder-agreement-before-incorporating): Why the best time to agree the founder deal is before incorporation.
- [Who Owns the IP Before Incorporation](https://www.goodvernance.com/goodfounders/who-owns-the-ip-before-incorporation): Who owns startup code and IP before the company exists, and how to fix it.

## Legal
- [Terms](https://www.goodvernance.com/terms): Terms of service.
- [Privacy](https://www.goodvernance.com/privacy): Privacy policy.
- [Legal notice](https://www.goodvernance.com/legal): Company and legal information.
- [No legal advice](https://www.goodvernance.com/disclaimer): Goodvernance does not provide legal advice.

## Notes
- Goodvernance is English-only at present.
- A Founder Agreement is a pre-incorporation tool. Post-incorporation corporate documents are still needed; export the Founder Governance Pack to use with a lawyer or incorporation provider.
- The signature model is email-based: each founder receives a private signing link by email, and only the mailbox owner can sign, so signatures are verifiable.