Contractor / Freelancer Agreement

The first 10 questions

This is where the conversation starts. Each answer shapes what gets asked next.

1. 01Who are you bringing on, and what will they actually be doing — development, design, writing, something else?
2. 02Is this a solo freelancer, a small agency, or a platform-sourced contractor (Upwork, Toptal, etc.)?
3. 03Do you already have a template or standard agreement you've used before, or is this the first one?
4. 04What exactly will this person create or touch — code, designs, copy, data — and does all of it need to be assigned to you?
5. 05Will they have access to sensitive systems, customer data, or trade secrets that need explicit confidentiality terms?
6. 06Is this a one-off project or an ongoing relationship — and does the agreement need to anticipate future work?
7. 07What's the risk if this doesn't get signed before work starts — has anything already been shared or started informally?
8. 08Scope of work: what specifically are they being engaged to do, and what's explicitly out of scope?
9. 09IP assignment: confirm all work product is assigned to you upon creation or payment — and note any exceptions (e.g. their pre-existing tools/libraries).
10. 10Payment terms: rate, schedule, and what happens if a milestone is disputed or work is incomplete.

+ 5 more questions across discovery, validation, and the creative brief — each one adapting to what you've already said.

Related legal project types

• Incorporate Now — and As What?Decide whether it's time to incorporate, and what to form — LLC, C-corp, or your home-country equivalent — based on what you're actually doing, not startup folklore.
• Founder AgreementWork through equity, vesting, IP ownership, roles, and what happens if someone leaves — before those conversations become awkward or costly.
• Privacy PolicyThink through what data you collect, how you use it, and who you share it with — and produce a privacy policy tailored to your product, not a generic paste job.