My advice - 1. Start building the product. Once you have a minimum viable product, show it around. Get some potential customers on board (even if its for free)

My advice - 1. Start building the product. Once you have a minimum viable product, show it around. Get some potential customers on board (even if its for free). Have them test it out and see that it actually works. 2. Step 2 would be incorporation. With this, I would say get some legal help. 3. How long have you known the designer? Have you worked with him before? - Get a contract in place. Make sure you own all the assets he creates. You can find a "Freelance Contract Agreement" online. - Pay him on an hourly/monthly basis. Or give him some small equity...but if you don't know him very well, don't make him a partner or co-owner. (not sure if this is what you were considering) - Get all the assets he creates for your product. This includes photoshop/illustrator files. You never know when you might need to switch designers and you don't want to start all over again. - Set up a schedule that works for you and him. That way there is some level of accountability and stability in getting work delivered - Start with a couple of smaller projects, like maybe the logo or buttons, to figure out a good working pattern. Edit: Updated formatting