Structure plan · post-consultation

Better Athlete — Delaware C-Corp Formation & Structure Plan V2.0

For: Tomas Anthony (Founder & CEO) Counsel: Jonathan Savar, The Savar Law Firm PLLC Date: 2026-07-14 Supersedes: V1.0 pre-consultation brief (archived)

V2.0 captures the structure locked in the 2026-07-14 consultation with Jonathan Savar. It supersedes the pre-consultation V1.0 brief on three material points: the operating entity is a Delaware C-Corporation (not a PBC), capital instruments include SAFE for angel-stage funding (prior "no SAFE ever" rule retired), and all IP assigns into the C-Corp at formation (prior IP-Co LLC strand retired). Foundation strand and franchise thesis stay in place; the founder-liquidity path through QSBS §1202 is preserved and, if anything, cleaner.

01Company snapshot

Public positioning (canonical, 2026-07-14):

Better Athlete is training intelligence for youth sports. The coach sees effort. The parent sees mood. The trainer sees the body. Better Athlete composes those fragments — movement, biometrics, load, and feel — into one clinically standardized daily readiness call, so the right call is clear long before anything breaks. Over time, that record becomes the athlete's transcript.

Revenue model (internal — investor + legal only, not for public materials):

Revenue stacks six connected flywheels — family subscriptions ($49–149/mo), parent-funded school and club assessment programs, facility combines and events, per-lead gym referrals, provider-network memberships, and a $75K franchise that licenses the full operating stack. BA runs no facilities; franchisees do — HQ operates as tenant #1 on the exact stack it licenses, and every operator makes the intelligence corpus smarter.

02What Jonathan recommended (the pivot)

TopicV1.0 plan (pre-Savar)V2.0 plan (locked with Savar)
Operating entity Delaware PBC (mission enshrined in charter) Delaware C-Corp (classic, VC-standard, QSBS-eligible)
Capital instrument Priced equity only. Hard rule: no SAFE ever. SAFE for angel stage. Priced round at Series A.
IP holding Separate IP-Co LLC licenses to Op-Co (arm's-length exclusive) All IP assigned into the C-Corp at formation (single entity)
Founder ownership at formation Tomas holds ~100% via multi-entity structure Tomas holds 100% of C-Corp common (CEO + President)
Foundation (501(c)(3)) Q4-2026 formation, separate entity Unchanged — Q4-2026 formation; contracts with C-Corp arm's-length
QSBS §1202 clock Starts at PBC stock issuance Starts at C-Corp stock issuance (same 5-yr clock)
Franchise model $75K + 20% BA-referred rev share Unchanged
Counsel of record Courtney Thornton (TMs + DMCA) + counsel TBD for entity work Jonathan Savar acting counsel; Courtney narrowed to TMs + DMCA

03Target structure (two entities)

The three-entity architecture (Op-Co PBC + IP-Co LLC + Foundation) is retired. New plan is two entities: Delaware C-Corp (operating + IP-holding) and Seen. Strong. Foundation (Q4-2026 501(c)(3)).
  1. Better Athlete, Inc. — Delaware C-Corporation. Operating entity + IP holder. Tomas holds 100% of common stock at formation as sole founder; CEO + President. Standard VC-backable structure. All algorithm, patents, trade secrets, source code, and trademarks assign into the C-Corp at incorporation (see §06).
  2. Seen. Strong. Foundation, Inc. — Delaware 501(c)(3) public charity. Q4-2026 formation. Runs the 100K Girls campaign; receives philanthropic dollars the C-Corp cannot reach (RWJF, Knight, Doris Duke, Women's Sports Foundation, NIH/NIBIB, corporate CSR, DAFs, HNW major gifts). Contracts with the C-Corp at arm's-length fair market for assessment services. Independent Foundation board; Tomas may chair but not control per private-benefit doctrine.

04Founder liquidity mechanism & QSBS urgency

Unchanged from V1.0 in shape, cleaner in execution. The founder liquidity plan targets $11M free-and-clear at a Y4–Y5 growth/PE event ($100–160M EV; revenue $20–35M; 25–30% EBITDA). Mechanism: QSBS §1202 — C-Corp founder stock held five years, less than $50M gross assets at issuance, $10M+ federal cap-gains excluded. NY does not conform (~9–10% state stays).

The clock: QSBS's five-year holding period starts at C-Corp stock issuance. Forming the C-Corp is the top-priority workstream — every week of delay slides the earliest tax-optimal secondary date.

05Capital plan V2 (SAFE now on the table)

The prior "no SAFE ever" hard rule is retired. Per Savar, SAFE is the appropriate instrument for angel-stage funding in a founder-100%-owned C-Corp; priced equity returns for Series A.

06IP posture — all assigned into the C-Corp at formation

This is a material change from V1.0 (which held IP outside the operating entity in a separate IP-Co LLC). Per Savar, single-entity IP holding is simpler, cleaner for SAFE/Series A diligence, and does not compromise founder liquidity.
ClassificationContentsAssignment at C-Corp formation
Trade secret LESRI formula, multiplier stack constants, 1,800 AU/wk anchor, contraindication substitution mapping, source code (SaaS-isolated), aggregate anonymized dataset. Contribution to C-Corp under founder IP-assignment agreement at formation. DTSA "reasonable measures" continue: NDAs with §1833(b) whistleblower notice, MFA, audit logs, bulk-export alerting.
Patent — provisional drafted Dual-State Protocol (10 claims); possibly Fibonacci-as-state-machine. Provisional filed personally, assigned to C-Corp at incorporation. 12-month conversion clock ties to filing date.
Copyright Source code; SharedPicture assets; documentation. Assigned to C-Corp at formation. Batch registration follows.
Trademark (5 registered) Better Athlete, Seen. Strong., Everyday Athlete + two others. Assigned from Tomas to C-Corp at formation via TM assignment agreement. Everyday Athlete renewal October 19, 2026 — file personally, then assign.

07Existing NY LLC footprint — decision required

EntityStatusProposed V2.0 disposition
Red Hook Performance Lab LLC FORMED (NY, EIN 41-5345361) Decision needed. Options: keep as operating sub for studio work; dissolve; or wind down after C-Corp absorbs operations. Depends on whether RHPL has active contracts/leases/liabilities.
Better Athlete App LLC IN PROCESS Halt filing. C-Corp replaces this entity's intended role.
EA Operations LLC IN PROCESS Halt filing. Same reasoning.

08Partnerships in flight (unchanged in shape, updated in party)

All partnership tracks execute against the C-Corp as the counterparty (was: TBD entity or Tomas as individual).

Meredith Speck — Founding Athlete Partner

NWSL veteran (NC Courage, 10 seasons, 3 championships), Yale alum, ACL recovery story. Equity ceiling 1.0–2.5% staged vesting tied to external milestones (pilot wins, sponsor intros, capital support). Not an operating cofounder. Instrument shape now: restricted C-Corp common with milestone vesting cliffs (§83(b) election on the athlete's side). Call one already scheduled — no formal equity number on call one.

Samir Goel — Foundation advisor → investor

Co-CEO Esusu Financial ($1.2B unicorn); TIME100 NEXT. Tomas-locked sequence: Foundation advisor seat first, Bay/Gotham warm intros T+30–60d, LAFC-style playbook T+90+, Founding Investor conversation T+180d. Investor entry now on SAFE (was: priced-only).

VueMotion — Stage 1 API partnership

Smartphone-based AI movement intelligence (Ryan Talbot CEO, Austin TX). Stage 1 = export/API only. Named pilot: "Seen. Strong. × VueMotion Youth Female Movement Intelligence Pilot." 4-stage roadmap → 100K athletes by 2027 Women's World Cup. Data-rights structure: VueMotion aggregated de-identified benchmark rights for youth female sport; BA owns relationship + program layer + applied risk/education workflow.

Clinical advisors — Allison Gibbons, PhD PT · Frank Ennis, MD · Kirk Campbell, MD

Tier 1 clinical signoff on the readiness model (2026-06-24) from Allison Gibbons. Frank Ennis, MD — sports medicine physician; advisor side-letter drafted 2026-06-13, not yet signed. Kirk Campbell, MD added to the Clinical Advisory 2026-07-14 (specialty + affiliation TBC). Advisor/consulting agreements needed for both MDs — Savar to draft standard advisor agreements. Frank + Kirk are candidates for peer-reviewable case series by Y2.

Franchise agreement template

Not yet drafted. Structure: $75K one-time fee + 20% rev share on BA-referred clients only. Two-tier confidentiality (during-term + post-term perpetual for trade secrets). Franchisee gets rendered outputs, rationale strings, brand license, know-how manuals — not source, multiplier constants, cross-tenant data, aggregate corpus, or sub-licensing. FDD + state registration exposure to be scoped by Savar.

09Counsel of record

Jonathan Savar, Partner, The Savar Law Firm PLLC — acting counsel going forward. 43 W. 43rd Street, Suite 55, New York NY 10036. +1 917 881 4009. www.savarlaw.ai · linkedin.com/in/jonathansavar. Scope: entity formation, IP assignment, capital instruments (SAFE + priced round), franchise agreement + FDD, Foundation 501(c)(3), partnership instruments (Meredith equity, VueMotion API + data rights, advisor agreements), NDA + trade-secret hygiene.

Nathan J. Gallus, Associate | IP Attorney, Billion & Armitage — patent counsel. Engaged 2026-07-13. Office (952) 697-2646 · cell (952) 200-7132 · ngallus@billionarmitage.com · linkedin.com/in/nathanjgallus/. Engagement co-signatory partner: Benjamin C. Armitage. Scope: omnibus provisional patent application (Dual-State Protocol + LESRI + Fibonacci-as-state-machine candidates) and downstream patent prosecution. Timeliness: 4+ US business days / 7+ foreign business days lead time on PTO deadlines. Work product portable to future counsel on full payment.

Courtney Thornton (she/her), Managing Partner, Thornton IP Law LLC (Atlanta GA) — narrowed to trademarks + DMCA. 650.776.1133 · courtney@thorntoniplaw.com · thorntoniplaw.com. Immediate: Cease-and-desist letter to Everyday Athlete, LLC (infringement of EVERYDAY ATHLETE mark); USPTO change of representation for all 5 marks. Filed the 5 marks and DMCA agent registration (DMCA-1074271); will execute TM assignment into C-Corp post-formation. Deadlines: EVERYDAY ATHLETE renewal (Section 8+9 combined) by October 19, 2026; Section 8/15 combined maintenance affidavits for the four 2020 registrations (Reg. Nos. 6,200,700–6,200,703) by November 17, 2026.

10Implementation checklist (30–60 days)

  1. File Delaware C-Corp incorporation. Better Athlete, Inc. Standard authorized shares (10M common, no preferred at formation). Delaware registered agent selected. SavarWeek 1
  2. Issue founder common stock. 10,000,000 shares of common issued to Tomas Anthony at nominal par ($0.0001). §83(b) election filed within 30 days of issuance if stock is subject to any vesting; otherwise not required (100% vested at issuance). Starts the QSBS §1202 5-yr clock. Tomas + SavarWeek 1–2
  3. Executive appointments. Tomas as CEO + President + Sole Director. Bylaws, board consent, first written consent of sole director, corporate seal ordered. SavarWeek 1–2
  4. EIN + Delaware franchise-tax registration + NY foreign qualification. Also open corporate bank account (US bank of record TBD). Tomas + SavarWeek 2–3
  5. Founder IP-assignment agreement + confidential-information agreement. All BA-related IP conceived pre-formation (LESRI, source code, trade secrets, marks pending TM assignment) assigned into C-Corp. Standard "prior invention" schedule attached. SavarWeek 2
  6. Trademark assignment agreement. All 5 registered marks assign from Tomas to C-Corp. USPTO recording. Everyday Athlete October 19, 2026 renewal (Section 8+9 combined) handled personally, then assigned. Courtney (execute) + Savar (coordinate)Week 3–4
  7. File omnibus provisional patent application. Nathan Gallus (Billion & Armitage) engaged 2026-07-13. Dual-State Protocol (10 claims drafted) + LESRI + Fibonacci-as-state-machine candidates all considered for the same broad application; final claim set at Nathan's discretion. File personally, then assign to C-Corp at incorporation via Savar's IP-assignment agreement. Starts 12-month conversion clock. Nathan GallusWeek 2–4
  8. Halt Better Athlete App LLC + EA Operations LLC filings. Withdraw articles or leave to lapse per counsel guidance. Decision on Red Hook Performance Lab LLC (keep, dissolve, or wind down) pending review of active RHPL contracts/leases. SavarWeek 2
  9. SAFE template + first angel checks. Standard YC post-money SAFE; valuation cap set by Savar (target ~$6M pre-money equivalent per V1.0 canon). First tranche ~$100K near-term, scaling to $1.5M for seed close. Savar + TomasWeek 3–6
  10. Meredith Founding Athlete Partner instrument. Restricted common with milestone-based vesting cliffs (pilot wins, sponsor intros, capital support). 1.0–2.5% band, staged. §83(b) election guidance for Meredith on her side. SavarWeek 4–6
  11. DTSA "reasonable measures" NDA template. Every contractor, advisor, partner touchpoint executes. Includes §1833(b) whistleblower notice (omission forfeits exemplary damages). SavarWeek 3–4
  12. Franchise agreement + FDD scoping. Draft franchise agreement template ($75K + 20% BA-referred, two-tier confidentiality, no source/multiplier/cross-tenant access). Assess state-by-state FDD registration exposure. Not blocking angel round. SavarWeek 6–10
  13. Foundation 501(c)(3) formation prep (Q4-2026). Delaware nonprofit formation, IRS Form 1023, board recruitment, private-benefit doctrine review, arm's-length service contract template between C-Corp and Foundation. Fires after seed close + baseline revenue. Savar or referred nonprofit counselQ4-2026