The conversation nobody wants to have early is the one that saves the friendship

• A partnership is governed by the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, and the partners' arrangement is usually recorded in a partnership deed
• A partnership with no agreed duration is a partnership at will, which any partner can dissolve by giving written notice to the others
• A limited liability partnership has an LLP agreement under the LLP Act, 2008; where there is none on a matter, the Act's default provisions apply, and the agreement and any changes to it are filed with the Registrar
• A company is governed by the Companies Act, 2013 and its articles of association; founders often add a separate shareholders' or founders' agreement. Which documents you need is a question for your lawyer
• Why choosing the structure and writing the agreement should be done together

Hypothetical example: two friends agree a 50-50 split. One works full time on the business; the other keeps a job and contributes evenings. A made-up case showing why 'equal' needs a conversation about commitment.

• The split of ownership and how it was decided
• Whether each person works full time, part time or alongside other jobs
• Who leads on what, and who has the final say in each area
• Whether founders may run or invest in other businesses
• How roles and ownership can change as the business grows

• How much each person puts in, in cash and in kind, and when
• Whether money put in is a share, a loan or something else
• Salaries or drawings, and when they begin
• Who can spend what without asking
• Personal guarantees for loans, and who bears the risk

• Which decisions need everyone's agreement and which one person can take
• How voting works when there are two founders, or an even number
• What happens in a stalemate: a cooling-off step, an outside adviser, mediation or arbitration
• Why a dispute-resolution clause is better chosen early than improvised later

• Vesting: earning your share over time, so that a founder who leaves early does not take the full share with them
• What happens if someone leaves by choice, is asked to leave or stops contributing
• What happens in case of illness, death or other long absence
• How the share of a departing founder is valued and bought, and how it is paid for
• Whether anything restricts a leaving founder from competing, and whether that can be enforced, a question for a lawyer

• Copyright in an original work generally belongs first to its author, with exceptions such as work made in the course of employment under a contract of service
• An assignment of copyright must be in writing, signed by the person assigning it, and must identify the work and the rights, duration and territory covered; where the period is not stated it is treated as five years, and where the territory is not stated, as India
• Why founders should assign code, designs, content, names and logos they made to the business, in writing, rather than assume the business owns them
• Confidentiality between the founders and towards outsiders
• Domain names and social accounts registered in the business's name, not an individual's

• Having the agreement drafted or reviewed by a qualified lawyer
• Stamp duty on the agreement in your state, which your lawyer can advise on
• Filings with the Registrar for an LLP agreement or company documents, where they apply
• Reviewing the agreement when a new founder joins, an investor comes in or roles change
• Keeping a signed copy somewhere every founder can reach