Partner's talk: Greiter Pegger Kofler & Partner

I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser focuses on research-based start-ups, especially in the deep tech sector. Patent protection, spin-offs etc. are very common – which topics do you find particularly exciting in your work and are there areas where you have noticed a change in recent years?

Especially in the field of corporate law the start-up scene has changed a lot. One tries to “adapt” Austrian company law to international standards and unfortunately reaches its limits here, especially with the formalistic requirements of GmbHs. What is particularly exciting here is this adaptation of the well-tried to the new culture.

You have been working with start-ups for some time now. What role do you play when working with start-ups? Is there an example or a situation where you, as an established company, can learn from young founders?

You can always learn something. What is completely new for us are the terms, which are often rather difficult to translate in our legal language. A Good- or Bad-Leaver is still understandable, but with other terms you are faced with the challenge that company shares are not shares. Especially from an entrepreneur’s point of view, one can learn from the young founders how important good employees are and how important it is to bind them to the company in the long term, especially through employee participation models.

Greiter Pegger Kofler & Partner has been a partner of the I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser Group for many years and is heavily involved in its investment activities. What advise would you like to give to the young founders.

In our many years of practice, we have repeatedly found that it makes sense to discuss the possible scenarios of a cooperation in advance, including the less pleasant ones. In the ideal case, contracts are usually not taken up after signing; if there are problems, however, solutions are sought in them. For this reason, we can only advise everyone to take a little more time when negotiating contracts and to settle points that “you don’t need anyway“.

This year, you will again be an expert at the Summer School. What would you give to young entrepreneurs who are considering the question of founding their own start-up from a legal point of view right from the start?
Many founders shy away from initial contact with lawyers – be it because of the fee costs, uncertainty about expectations etc. – Is there a classic “procedure” for establishing contact? When should this take place? What should one prepare? What questions should be asked in advance?

Here we can only repeat ourselves. Take enough time to play through all eventualities. This is easier if the problem is not yet acute.
The perfect time to consult a lawyer naturally depends on the individual case. As soon as you know approximately how you imagine the future – factually – we recommend in any case to contact a lawyer. In this way it can be sounded out at an early stage how the ideas can best be legally implemented.

The question of costs should be clarified right at the beginning so that everyone knows what they are getting into. Furthermore, the lawyer should be informed about the essential points, i.e. how one envisages the future and the cooperation between the young entrepreneurs and possible investors. Only if a lawyer knows all the information about the “sticking points”, he can give good advice.

Thank you for the interview!