Introduction
At Fidelity Private SharesSM, a workflow refers to a series of automated steps designed to streamline various business processes. These workflows help manage tasks such as equity management, corporate governance, fundraising, and documentation. This article will provide a general overview of the available workflows and how they work. Click the links below to jump to that section of the article.
- What is a workflow?
- Running a workflow
- Upload and generative workflows
- Workflow Explorer
- Workflow diagrams
What is a workflow?
A workflow is a process that allows a company to record or take an action in the platform. Workflows can generate or store the documents associated with the action, as well as recording relevant information for use in the future.
Workflows often have two paths - generative, where you can generate new documents to execute on the platform, and upload, where you can capture previously signed documents and the data contained in them. Examples of the documents that can be generated or uploaded via a workflow include:
- Equity: Creating a stock incentive plan, issuing electronic certificates, and issuing stock options and restricted stock awards under the plan.
- Human Resources: Employee confidentiality and assignment agreements, and IP contribution agreements.
- Corporate Governance: Board consents, minutes, and stockholder consents.
- Fundraising: Issuing SAFEs and bridge notes, or automating an equity financing.
Running a workflow
Starting a new workflow page
To start a workflow, click on the Start New Workflow button on the Company Workspace.
This will open the Start a New Workflow page that shows all available workflows. There are three categories of workflows that may display, and this will depend on your role within the company and your level of access granted.
- My available workflows: these are workflows that an individual employee or stakeholder can run related to their employment, or for taking actions on their personal holdings.
- Available company workflows: these workflows are for users with company access and contain the bulk of actions the company can make. Law firm and investment firm users will have actions related to their firm in this section. See this article for more information on setting and changing user permissions and access.
- Administrative actions: This section will only display for users with full administrator access, and has workflows related to the corporate structure and user directory access.
There is a tooltip icon to the right of each workflow. Hovering your cursor over the question mark icon will give a brief overview of the workflow. The padlock icon indicates the workflow is locked, and hovering your cursor over this icon will explain why the workflow is locked.
To easily find a workflow, you can search at the top of the Start a New Workflow page. Type in what you are wanting to accomplish and suggested workflows will display.
Let's get started page
When starting a workflow, typically you will see a starting page that provides an overview of the process, additional context, and/or links to other resources.
Navigating through the workflow
The workflows will guide you through several steps to gather the required information and documentation. To move to the next step, click the Continue button. To return to a previous step, you can click the Back button, or you can click the name of the step from the breadcrumb navigation at the top of the screen. To cancel the current workflow, click Discard.
Checkpoints
The checkpoint page is the last step in the workflow before the documents are sent for signature. It's important to review and confirm that all generated documents are correct before proceeding.
Each document on this page will have a PDF that you can download and review. The Edit Document button allows you to view the document section by section and make changes as needed. See this article for more information on editing documents during a workflow.
You can also optionally share documents with a reviewer or signatory (e.g. the investor in a bridge note workflow, the grantee in a grant shares workflow, etc.) Depending on the type of workflow and your legal counsel review settings, you may choose to send the workflow to legal review before continuing.
Upload and generative workflows
Create or upload
Many workflows can be run in either generative mode, meaning that the platform will create the documents for you, or in upload mode, which allows you to upload the previously executed documents and capture important information about them.
For these workflows, the Let's get started page of a workflow will give you the option of choosing between a create and an upload option. For example, this is the Grant Shares workflow:
You should choose the upload path if you have the finalized/executed document(s) in hand. This will allow you to bring documents created outside the platform into your account, and the platform will update the cap table and other areas as applicable.
You should use the generative workflow if you have not yet created the documents and need the platform to create the documents for you. For instance, you can generate offer letters for your new employees on the platform and electronically sign them.
Upload drafted documents for execution
Some workflows, including the Board Consent and Consultant Agreement workflows, allow you to upload a drafted document for execution on the platform. In these cases, you would upload a PDF version of the document(s) without a signature page. The workflow will send the document(s) out for signature and will affix a signature page and process the execution of the document. Below is an example of the Add New Advisor workflow that allows for the upload of a drafted document.
Upload only
Some workflows currently only support the upload path, and are indicated in the Start a New Workflow page with (Upload Only) in the name of the workflow.
Workflow Explorer
Pending and completed workflows can be found in the Workflow Explorer page. On the right hand side of the Company Workspace below the Start New Workflow button you will find the Workflows panel. This panel shows a snapshot of workflows completed either by you or for the entire company. Clicking on the Explore button opens Workflow Explorer page. See this article for a more detailed guide on the Workflow Explorer page.
Workflow diagrams
This section includes visual aids that demonstrate the lifecycle of each workflow type on the Fidelity Private Shares platform.
Screenshots are for illustrative purposes only.
Fidelity Private Shares LLC provides cap table management and other administrative services to private companies and their equity compensation plans.
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