Browsing by Author "Baran, Selin"

Startups are today's famous form of businesses that aim to create value and innovation to solve problems or satisfy the needs that exist in society. They differ from traditional businesses in their purposes and structures. They are founded by entrepreneurs with vision and ideas, yet, they mostly lack the necessary experience and funding. Therefore, they sell their company shares to investors in exchange for mentorship, network, and funding. Investors aim to look for opportunities for growth and financial returns in their investment and they plan their exits from the company. Shareholder agreements are used as tools to plan and execute those exit strategies. Finnish and Nordic startup scenes are thriving with the number of investments and the number of innovative startups. For the safety and continuity of the ecosystem, it is important that startups understand the shareholder agreements and they can use those documents to securely plan their future exits, as well. The primary purpose of the master`s thesis is to understand the traditional exit strategies applied in the startup world and to utilize shareholder agreements as a tool to prevent conflicts among founders and investors in the case of an entrepreneurial exit. The paper applies the legal methodology of doctrinal analysis and analyzes available rules and regulations along with the free market applications of shareholder agreements.