Founders & Small BusinessFree
Founder Document Studio for Startups
Describe the document you need, from an investor update to a design partnership proposal, add your files, and get a draft built on your facts.
Start from a ready-made document
Choose one and River fills it in from what you describe above. Preview any of them first to read it in full.
Common Paper
Common Paper's one-page non-binding term sheet for a business deal, such as a partnership or big sale, with a row per agreed topic and binding confidentiality.
Common Paper
Common Paper's non-binding letter of intent between a provider and a customer: the product, what it does, fees, launch date and five confidentiality options.
Customer discovery emails asking potential customers for a 20-minute problem interview: a cold email, a warm intro, a follow-up and an outreach log.
A 30-minute customer discovery interview script with timed sections on past events, workarounds and buying, plus hypotheses, a notes table and a summary.
Y Combinator
A customer's non-binding letter of intent to license your product: the number of users, the monthly fee per user, the delivery date and confidentiality terms.
A proposal for a paid design partnership with a large customer: scope, success criteria, timeline, fees, a credit on conversion and the path to a contract.
A security questionnaire answer bank for software startups selling to enterprises: certifications, hosting, encryption, access, incidents, vendors and gaps.
A startup offer letter for a full-time US employee, with salary, a stock option grant and vesting, benefits, invention assignment and at-will terms.
A cofounder exit checklist covering the unvested share buyback, resignations, IP confirmation, account access, the separation agreement and who to tell.
Two short emails for a warm investor introduction: the ask to someone who knows the investor, and a forwardable note with traction, team and the raise.
A startup funding announcement kit with headline options, a press release with quotes and boilerplate, an email to customers and a three-week launch plan.
A monthly investor update email that leads with key numbers, cash and runway, then specific asks, highlights, lowlights, thanks and next month's goals.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard AI addendum, version 1.0: cover page choices on training with customer data, output ownership, indemnity and AI acceptable use.
A unanimous board consent for a startup that approves a 409A valuation, option grants, a SAFE round, officers and a bank account without holding a meeting.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard Cloud Service Agreement, version 2.1: an order form per purchase, a cover page for liability caps and governing law, and standard terms.
Common Paper
Common Paper's Cloud Service Agreement 2.1 with its Service Level Agreement 2.0: a SaaS contract plus uptime and support targets backed by bill credits.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard mutual NDA, version 1.0: a one-page cover page for the purpose, term and governing law, plus standard terms both sides keep as written.
Common Paper
Common Paper's one-page amendment for changing a signed agreement: the agreement and parties, when the change takes effect, one row per change, and signatures.
An IP assignment for contractors that transfers past and future work to your company, with a prior inventions list, open source limits and confidentiality.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed Notes board consent: the directors' written approval of a convertible note round, its total amount and the attached form of note.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed Notes term sheet: amount, interest, maturity, conversion at the next financing, and what investors get if the company is sold first.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed Notes promissory note: a startup loan that converts into shares at the next qualified financing, with interest and maturity terms.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard data processing agreement, version 1.1: cover page terms for subprocessors, security, CCPA and EU or UK transfers, plus GDPR annexes.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard design partner agreement, version 1.3: a cover page for the product, partner commitments, term and fees, plus terms on feedback.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard HIPAA business associate agreement, version 1.0: cover page terms for breach reporting, subcontracting, offshoring and health data use.
Common Paper
Common Paper's independent contractor agreement, version 1.0: a statement of work for services, schedule and rate, plus terms assigning the work to you.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed investor questionnaire, in which each investor certifies how they qualify as an accredited investor for a private round.
A short mutual NDA for two companies sharing confidential information while they explore a partnership, deal or acquisition, with term and court choices.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard one-way NDA: a cover page for the discloser, purpose, term and governing law, plus confidentiality terms only the recipient signs.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard pilot agreement, version 1.1, for a customer trying your product before buying, with an order form for the product, dates and fees.
Y Combinator
Y Combinator's post-money SAFE, version 1.2, with a valuation cap and no discount: how the SAFE converts in a priced round, a sale or a shutdown.
Common Paper
Common Paper's professional services agreement, version 1.1, for consulting or custom work: a statement of work, key terms cover page and standard terms.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard partnership agreement, version 1.1, for referral, co-marketing and sponsorship deals, with a cover page for each side's duties and fees.
Common Paper
Common Paper's order form for its Cloud Service Agreement, version 2.1: the product, start date, subscription period, fees and payment for one purchase.
Common Paper
Common Paper's SaaS order form with its service level agreement: one purchase under a signed Cloud Service Agreement, plus uptime, response times and credits.
Common Paper
Common Paper's click-through terms of service for SaaS customers who sign up online, built on its Cloud Service Agreement, version 2.1, with fields to fill in.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed board consent: directors' written approval of the restated certificate, the investment agreement and the sale of preferred stock.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed investment agreement: the sale of preferred stock, closings, company and investor representations, and the deal term exhibits.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed restated charter creating Series Seed preferred stock, with its liquidation preference, conversion, voting and protective provisions.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed stockholder consent: stockholders' written approval of the restated certificate of incorporation and other steps of the round.
Cooley
Cooley's Series Seed term sheet for a priced seed round: amount, pre-money valuation, option pool, 1x liquidation preference, board seats and investor rights.
Common Paper
Common Paper's standard software license agreement, version 1.1, for software customers install on their own systems, with an order form and standard terms.
An advisor agreement for a US startup, with the advisor's scope and goals, an equity grant with monthly vesting, confidentiality and invention assignment.
Common Paper
Common Paper's statement of work for one project under a signed professional services agreement: services, deliverables, schedule, fees and acceptance.
Founder Document Studio drafts the documents a startup founder writes between building and selling. Describe what you need in your own words, attach whatever you have, and River works out which document fits and writes it from your facts. That can be one of the ready-made documents on this page, such as a monthly investor update, a board consent or a contractor IP assignment. It can also be something none of them covers, like a first proposal to an enterprise customer.
Take a founder preparing a proposal for a design partnership with a large pharmaceutical company, with a clause that turns it into a customer contract if it works. River starts from the design partnership proposal. It sets out the scope, success criteria agreed up front, a partnership fee credited against the first year, and a conversion clause that says what happens when the criteria are met. It asks only for facts it cannot find in your files, and marks anything still missing for you to confirm.
Legal documents get the same care. Work a contractor creates usually stays theirs unless they assign it in writing, because commissioned work counts as work made for hire only in nine narrow categories. Delaware lets a board act without a meeting when every director consents in writing. River drafts agreements in standard legal form and points out where a lawyer should look. Standard forms stay as published: River fills in only the blanks of Y Combinator's post-money SAFE, and puts your terms on the cover page of Common Paper's agreements, like the cloud service agreement.
What makes a founder document work
Specific beats complete. An investor update that leads with the same three numbers every month, plus cash and runway, can be read in a minute; one that explains everything gets skimmed. A letter of intent that names units, price and dates carries far more weight with investors than a warm letter of support. In every document River puts the numbers, dates and decisions first, and removes sections that do not apply rather than filling them with boilerplate that nobody will read.
Decide the next step before you need it. The documents founders regret are the ones that left the hard question for later: a pilot with no agreed measure of success, an advisor grant with no vesting, a cofounder exit with no plan for unvested shares. Each ready-made document asks that question on the page, so the conversation happens while both sides are still friendly and the answer is written down. In the illustrative pharma proposal, that question is what happens on the day the pilot succeeds.
Say only what is true today. A security questionnaire answered “planned for next quarter” builds more trust than a control you claim but do not have, and a funding announcement should name only the customers who agreed to be named. River drafts from what you share, marks every gap for you to confirm, and never sends anything on your behalf. You review the document, change whatever you like, and send it yourself, to the people you choose, when you are ready.
How it works
Describe the document
Say what you need and who it is for, in your own words, and add any files you have.
Pick a starting point
Choose one of the ready-made documents, or let River pick one or write a new one for you.
Review the draft
River fills in your facts, marks anything to confirm, and lists the questions a lawyer should answer.
Send it yourself
Edit anything you like, then download or share it. Nothing is ever sent on your behalf.
What you get
- Forty-four ready-made documents, including YC's SAFE, Series Seed and Common Paper's contracts, or one written for you
- The right document chosen from what you describe, with any sections that do not apply removed
- Your numbers, names, dates and terms filled in from your message and the files you attach
- Every missing fact marked clearly for you to confirm, never guessed at or quietly invented
- Agreements in standard legal form, with the clauses and decisions a lawyer should review pointed out
- A real formatted document you can edit, share with your team, or download as a Word file
Common questions
Which documents can it write?
Any document a founder writes for investors, customers, the team or the board. Forty-four have ready-made starting points, from the investor update to Y Combinator's SAFE, the Series Seed documents for a priced seed round, and Common Paper's NDA, customer, pilot and design partner agreements. For anything else, such as a partnership memo or a hard email to a customer, River writes a new document from your description and files.
Can it help me price a design partnership?
Yes. It lays out options with your own numbers: a paid partnership fee, a credit toward the first year if the customer converts, and a discounted subscription price held for a set period. It cannot know what a particular company will pay, so it marks each figure for you to confirm against the customer's budget and your costs.
Can it draft a SAFE?
Yes, from the real form. River starts from Y Combinator's post-money SAFE with a valuation cap, exactly as YC publishes it at ycombinator.com/documents, and fills in only the blanks: the company, investor, amount, valuation cap, date and governing law. Investors expect the published form, so River does not change its terms. For other SAFE versions or the side letter, use YC's forms directly.
Can it draft a customer contract?
Yes, from Common Paper's standard agreements, written by over 40 lawyers and free at commonpaper.com/standards. River starts from the one that fits, such as the cloud service, pilot or data processing agreement, and fills in its cover page from your facts. Any change to the standard terms goes on the cover page, as Common Paper asks, so the customer's lawyer sees exactly what differs.
Is this legal advice?
No. River drafts documents from what you share, in the form a lawyer would expect, and points out the clauses and decisions a lawyer should check, but it does not give legal advice or promise that a document is enforceable. For a financing, a cofounder exit, hiring outside the United States or a large contract, have your own lawyer review the draft before anyone signs.
What should I attach?
Whatever the document depends on: the email that asked for it, your deck or monthly numbers, earlier agreements, a customer's questionnaire, your cap table, or notes from calls. River reads your files first, and asks one follow-up question only if a missing fact would stop it from writing a useful draft.
Will River send anything for me?
No. River only drafts. You review the document, fill in anything marked to confirm, and send it yourself. That keeps you in control of what your investors, customers and team see, and when they see it, and it means nothing leaves your workspace until you decide it should.
Sources
Built by
Chandler Supple
Co-founder & CEO, River
Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.
Founder Document Studio for Startups
Describe what you need, add any files you have, and your workspace opens with the work already underway.