I know that it’s hard to imagine “feeling sorry” for venture capitalists. We think of them as very savvy, sometimes sharp-elbowed people, who typically make a good deal of money. But read Bessemer Venture Partners’ amazing page, detailing their “anti-portfolio” — companies that were presented to them for investment and that they passed on. Companies […]
Lawyer marketing frequently emphasizes — what else? — the importance of hiring lawyers. As someone who has himself stood in the shoes of the cash-conserving entrepreneur, however, I understand the reluctance to use precious startup capital on legal fees. It is possible to significantly overspend on legal services — either by buying too many services […]
We do a lot of convertible notes at goodcounsel, so we try to keep with the state of the art. A year or so ago, some West Coast incubators teamed up with the Wilson Sonsini law firm to create a type of convertible equity for seed, financings intended to replace convertible debt. Convertible debt minus […]
In an earlier post, I described the major points of the proposed crowdfunding rules issued by the SEC (known as “Regulation Crowdfunding”) pursuant to the JOBS Act. Now, I’d like to offer my reactions. My basic reaction is this: you have got to be kidding me.
At last, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed “Regulation Crowdfunding” (the rules implementing Title III of the JOBS Act). I apologize for my delay in posting about this, but in my defense, the release containing the proposed rules is 585 pages long. (The length alone gives one pause about how workable this regulatory […]
Max Wessel, writing in the Harvard Business Review blog, looks at technology entrepreneurship across the country and states that “ if you start a technology business somewhere other than the San Francisco Bay area, New York, or Boston” — what Wessel terms the “superhubs” — “you’re stacking the deck against yourself.” What does Wessel mean […]
Now that the “fiscal cliff” has come and gone, cliffs are less frequently in the news. In startup circles, however, a different kind of cliff is always popular: the vesting cliff. Typically, vesting of founder or employee equity happens in even increments, daily or monthly. If you graphed that vesting schedule, it would obviously look […]
Co-founders are always struggling to determine the “right” equity split. In my view, it is a question with no “right” answer. Like much else in business, it’s about negotiation and bargaining power, and also about relationships, entrepreneurial style, and other factors. Still, entrepreneurs often being software geeks, it was inevitable that someone would try to […]
Roy Strom, of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, was kind enough to interview me about legal services for entrepreneurial technology companies. The article is now out. Link below. Updated link: http://www.chicagolawyermagazine.com/Archives/2013/04/Tech-Companies-In-House.aspx
“If I just want to raise some seed capital from friends, I don’t have to worry about any legal issues, right?” Ah, if only life (and the law) were that simple. In the recent edition of goodnews, goodcounsel’s newsletter, we discussed what you need to think about when you think about taking investment capital from […]