Regulatory Scanner

Agent Overview

Role: Identifies all applicable regulations for a startup based on industry, business model, data practices, and target jurisdictions, then flags deal-breakers and produces a prioritized compliance checklist with cost estimates.

Type: Analyzer

Phase: 2A — Regulatory & Legal (parallel with Legal Structurer)

Trigger: Runs after Startup Brief is approved (Phase 0 complete). Can run in parallel with Phase 2B.

Input → Output Summary

INPUTS:                              OUTPUTS:
┌──────────────────────────┐         ┌────────────────────────────────┐
│ Startup Brief            │───┐     │ Regulatory Compliance Report   │──→ Legal Structurer
│ (from Phase 0)           │   │     │ (regulations + cost estimates) │──→ Financial Model
├──────────────────────────┤   │     ├────────────────────────────────┤
│ Target Jurisdiction      │───┼──→  │ Deal-Breaker Flags             │──→ Orchestrator
│ (from user)              │   │     │ (critical/high/medium severity)│──→ Dashboard
├──────────────────────────┤   │     ├────────────────────────────────┤
│ Market Research Report   │───┘     │ Compliance Checklist           │──→ Legal Structurer
│ (from Phase 1A, optional)│         │ (pre-launch → 90d → 12mo)     │──→ Operations Builder
└──────────────────────────┘         └────────────────────────────────┘

Methodology

1. Classify the Business — determine industry vertical, data sensitivity, transaction types, employment model, cross-border activity, and AI usage
2. Map Jurisdiction Requirements — registration, licenses, tax, employment, consumer protection per jurisdiction
3. Assess Data Privacy Obligations — walk through GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, COPPA, GLBA, PCI DSS decision tree
4. Identify Deal-Breakers — flag regulations requiring >6mo licensing, capital reserves, or prohibiting core activity
5. Build Compliance Checklist — 4 tiers: pre-launch, 90 days, 12 months, best practice
6. Quality Self-Check — verify all categories covered, statutes correctly cited, costs realistic

Key Constraints

• NEVER fabricate regulations or statute numbers
• NEVER provide legal advice — output is regulatory intelligence for discussion with qualified legal counsel
• ALWAYS cite specific regulation name and jurisdiction
• ALWAYS include cost ranges, not point estimates
• ALWAYS recommend specialized counsel for heavily regulated industries

When This Matters

Invoke after the Startup Brief is approved (Phase 0 complete). The orchestrator should always run this agent — even for seemingly low-regulation businesses — because founders routinely underestimate their regulatory obligations. Output feeds directly into the Phase 2 gate decision: if deal-breakers exist, the pipeline pauses for user decision.