True, but another consideration is that sometimes those optimal deals take long enough to make, they should be factored into said opportunity cost. Whatever ti

True, but another consideration is that sometimes those optimal deals take long enough to make, they should be factored into said opportunity cost. Whatever time you're spending hunting and bargaining with lawyers could be, alternately, spent hunting for developers, or hunting for users, or one of any other things. Indeed, the value of the better firms may be far more than worth any 1% investment. Perhaps a better idiom is that the lawyers are investing in the company. They're large enough to qualify for riskier investments open only to institutional investors, so they miss much higher levels of interest than the public. This means that a deferred payment is a significant hit to their bottom line, and should be counter balanced. Additionally, certain law firms waive their fees unless an initial financing to completes. These firms, in addition to helping you out legally, also can help appreciably in raising the next round, and getting the best deal (for themselves and the founders).