The scalable platform for smarter contracting.
The overview
Where simplicity meets compliance
Before partnering with Jordan Trevino at Telos Labs, co-founders Preston Clark and Ali Waqar had a clear vision but no working product. Many legal teams manage contracts manually, a process that is slow, error-prone, and frustrating. Their goal was simple: launch an MVP that solved this pain exceptionally well and build a foundation for a broader legal automation platform.
By teaming up with the Telos Labs team, that vision became a reality. The result was first an NDA automation platform called AutoNDA. After significant growth and iteration, it became SimpleCLM, a robust platform that streamlines contract workflows, integrates with the tools legal teams already use, and scales to meet enterprise needs. What began as a focused MVP for NDA automation has evolved into a scalable, modern CLM solution that helps businesses manage contracts with speed, precision, and compliance at its core.
The challenges
What we had to solve
- Deliver an MVP that solved a very specific problem (NDA lifecycle management).
- Build a platform that could scale to support broader contract types and enterprise organizations.
- Balance simplicity with powerful features like workflow customization and legal template tagging.
Our approach
The process and the solution
How we built it
From focused MVP to scalable platform
Product strategy & roadmap
Define the product strategy and roadmap from MVP to full-featured platform.
User-centered experience design
Design a clean, intuitive user experience tailored to legal teams and business users.
Future-ready tech foundation
Engineer a scalable architecture that supports evolving contract needs.
We defined a clear growth path from MVP to full platform, designed for real-world legal and business use, and built scalable tech to support evolving contract needs.
Key features
What's inside SimpleDocs
- Configurable workflows: Customize approval flows, signatures, and negotiable terms.
- NDA request flow management: Easily request, track, and sign NDAs between internal and external parties.
- Smooth onboarding: Shareable links let employees request NDAs without needing platform accounts.
- Microsoft Word Add-in: Tag templates in Word and use them in automated request flows.
- Contract repository: Secure, searchable archive for signed agreements.
The impact
MVP to award-winning platform
Enterprise-ready
Used by tens of enterprise organizations and thousands of users, automating contract workflows end-to-end.
Award-winning
Two Stevie Awards, Innovation of the Year and Legal Solution of the Year.
Acquisition fuel
In October 2025, SimpleDocs acquired Law Insider to lead the AI contract revolution.
Behind the build
How we got there
Telos Labs applied its Design Sprint and AI-powered MVP framework to help SimpleDocs turn a focused idea into a scalable product. By focusing on a single, high-value use case, NDA automation, the team cut through complexity, launched fast, and validated real user needs early. This approach laid the foundation for today's robust legal automation platform used across multiple industries.