INTRODUCTION
This is the third and final part of my series on the book Venture Capitalists at Work, which is a solid collection of interviews by Tarang Shah of certain highly-successful investors. I have again set forth below some nuggets for entrepreneurs; and, in case you missed them, you can check out Venture Capitalists at Work – Part 1 and Venture Capitalists at Work – Part 2. Many thanks, Scott
INTRODUCTION
This is part 2 of my series on Venture Capitalists at Work, which is a solid collection of interviews by Tarang Shah of certain highly-successful investors. Below are some more nuggets for entrepreneurs; and, in case you missed it, you can check out part 1 here. Cheers, Scott
INTRODUCTION
I just finished reading the book Venture Capitalists at Work, which is a collection of solid interviews by Tarang Shah of certain highly-successful investors. I have set forth below some nuggets for entrepreneurs. This is part one of a three-part series. I hope entrepreneurs find a few of the quotes helpful and get a better understanding of how VC’s think. Thanks, Scott
I’ve been a corporate lawyer for 18+ years, and there are certain fundamental mistakes that I’ve seen entrepreneurs repeatedly make in connection with fundraising. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to provide a simple checklist tailored to first-time entrepreneurs. I’ve also included links to prior posts for a detailed discussion.
This post is the second part of a three-part primer on convertible note seed financings. Part 1, entitled “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Convertible Note Seed Financings (But Were Afraid To Ask),” addressed certain basic questions, such as (i) what is a convertible note? (ii) why are convertible notes issued instead of shares of common or preferred stock? and (iii) what are the advantages of issuing convertible notes?
This part 2 will address the economics of a convertible note seed financing and the three key economic terms: (i) the conversion discount, (ii) the conversion valuation cap and (iii) the interest rate.
Part 3 will cover certain special issues, such as (i) what happens if the startup is acquired prior to the note’s conversion to equity? and (ii) what happens if the maturity date is reached prior to the note’s conversion to equity?
[Note: This post was originally published on TechCrunch.]
Introduction
We are in the golden age of seed financing. Venture capital funds, seed funds, super angels, angel groups, incubators, and “friends and family” are all playing the seed financing game and investing early in startups in an attempt to land the next Facebook.
As a result, the pendulum has swung dramatically in the founders’ favor, and the issuance of convertible notes for seed financing has never been more prolific. Indeed, as a corporate lawyer for 18+ years, I have seen this development first-hand.
Introduction
This post originally appeared in the “Ask the Attorney” column I am writing for VentureBeat; it is part of my ongoing series regarding venture capital term sheets. Here are the issues I have addressed to date:
In today’s post, I examine the non-binding and conditional language in term sheets.
Introduction
This post was originally part of the “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs). Please shoot me any questions you may have in the comments section – or feel free to call me directly at 415-979-9998 (San Francisco) or 310-288-6667 (Los Angeles). Thanks, Scott
Question
We’re a startup based in Palo Alto, and we just received a Series A term sheet for a $725,000 investment. The investor is kind of insisting that we use his lawyer at a big Valley firm to represent us. He said that he doesn’t need a lawyer, and this will save us a lot of money. We’re first time entrepreneurs, and we don’t know if this is standard practice and what we should do. Any advice would be appreciated.
Introduction
This post originally appeared in the “Ask the Attorney” column I am writing for VentureBeat; it is part of my ongoing series regarding venture capital term sheets. Here are the issues I have addressed to date:
In today’s post, I examine the redemption rights of investors.
Introduction
This post originally appeared as part of the “Ask the Attorney” column I am writing for VentureBeat; it is another installment of my ongoing series regarding venture capital term sheets. Here are the issues I have addressed to date:
In today’s post, I examine conversion rights of investors.
Introduction
This post originally appeared as part of the “Ask the Attorney” column I am writing for VentureBeat. Below is a longer, more comprehensive version, which is part of my ongoing series on venture capital term sheets. Here are the issues I have addressed to date:
In today’s post, I examine “pay-to-play” provisions, which can be an important protection for the founders.
Introduction
This post originally appeared as part of the “Ask the Attorney” column I am writing for VentureBeat. Below is a longer, more comprehensive version, which is part of my ongoing series on venture capital term sheets. Here are the issues I have addressed to date:
In today’s post, I examine “drag-along” or “bring-along” provisions, which can be very tricky.
Introduction
This post was originally part of my “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs). Below is a longer, more comprehensive version. Please shoot me any questions you may have in the comments section – or feel free to call me directly at 415-979-9998. Many thanks, Scott
Introduction
This post originally appeared as part of the “Ask the Attorney” column I am writing for VentureBeat. Below is a longer, more comprehensive version, which is part of my ongoing series on venture capital term sheets. Here are the issues I have addressed to date:
Today’s post relates to protective provisions, which is something VC investors almost always require in a priced round (i.e., equity issuance).
Introduction
This post originally appeared as part of the “Ask the Attorney” column I am writing for VentureBeat. Below is a longer, more comprehensive version, which is part of my ongoing series on venture capital term sheets. Here are the issues I have addressed to date:
Today’s post relates to the composition of the Board of Directors and specifically addresses the issue of who should control the Board following a Series A financing.
Introduction
This post originally appeared as part of the “Ask the Attorney” series I am writing for VentureBeat. Below is a longer, more comprehensive version, which is part of my series on venture capital term sheets. Here are the issues I have addressed to date:
Today’s post relates to dividends and how to protect the company from over-reaching by the investors.
Introduction
This post originally appeared as part of the “Ask the Attorney” series I am writing for VentureBeat. Below is a longer version. Please shoot me any questions in the comments section or, if you prefer confidentiality, via email at swalker@walkercorporatelaw.com.
Introduction
This post originally appeared as part of the “Ask the Attorney” series I am writing for VentureBeat. Below is a longer, more comprehensive version. Please shoot me any questions in the comments section or, if you prefer confidentiality, via email at swalker@walkercorporatelaw.com.
Introduction
This post was originally part of my weekly “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs). Below is a longer, more comprehensive version. Please shoot me any questions you may have in the comments section – or feel free to call me directly at 415-979-9998. Many thanks, Scott
Introduction
This post was originally part of my weekly “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs). Please shoot me any questions you may have in the comments section – or feel free to call me directly at 415-979-9998. Many thanks, Scott
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series entitled “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we post a short video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics to help entrepreneurs succeed.
This week, we present legendary investor John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins. Eric Schmidt calls John “one of Google’s best board members”; and Jeff Bezos noted that “Doerr (and Kleiner) is the center of gravity in the Internet.” In this interesting, one-minute clip from 2005 (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), John discusses how to negotiate valuations with VC’s and related issues.
I included this clip as a supplement to my blog post today on VentureBeat in which I advised entrepreneurs that: “[Y]ou need to get out there and effectively pitch a bunch of VC’s in your space and get them excited about your venture. By doing so, you can, in effect, drive the market by creating a competitive environment and playing the VC’s off of each other.” Many thanks, Scott
Introduction
This post was originally part of my weekly “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs). Please shoot me any questions you may have in the comments section – or feel free to call me directly at 415-979-9998. Many thanks, Scott
Introduction
This post was originally part of my “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat; below is a longer, more comprehensive version. Please feel free to call me directly if you have any questions (415-979-9998). Thanks, Scott
Introduction
My colleague, Susan Morgan, conducted a webinar yesterday with respect to venture capital term sheets for the “CFO University,” which is group of Chief Financial Officers convening monthly webinars via CFOwise. As I have previously discussed, Susan recently joined our team and has strong financing experience, including 7+ years at Fenwick & West in Silicon Valley where she closed more than 30 financings. (You can learn more about Susan’s background on her bio page.) In conjunction with the webinar, Susan also wrote a brief post on convertible notes. You can see the webinar and read the post below. Many thanks, Scott
Introduction
I am pleased to welcome officially Susan Morgan to our team. Susan has 10+ years of sophisticated corporate law experience, including 7+ years at Fenwick & West in Silicon Valley where she closed more than 30 private financings; she is an Adjunct Professor at Golden Gate University, where she teaches a course on Business and Legal Issues in High Technology Startups; and she is a highly successful entrepreneur, having co-founded two software companies. (You can learn more about Susan’s background on her bio page.)
I’ve been doing deals as a corporate attorney for over 15 years, including nearly eight years in the trenches at two major law firms in New York City; and during that period, I have seen certain mistakes made by entrepreneurs (and inexperienced deal guys) over and over again. The purpose of this post (which is part I of a series) is to discuss the following five basic mistakes made by entrepreneurs in connection with corporate transactions: (1) the failure to diligence the guys on the other side of the table; (2) the failure to build a strong transaction team; (3) the failure to run the negotiations through the lawyers; (4) the failure to check their emotions and to remain disciplined; and (5) blinking first. The video version of this post is set forth immediately below.
There have been several relatively recent blog posts with respect to the issue of founder vesting, including (i) two posts by Chris Dixon, a smart angel investor and co-founder of Hunch, here and here; and (ii) a post by Mark Suster, a successful entrepreneur turned VC (and another smart guy), here. There are also a number of solid older posts addressing this issue, including (i) Venture Hack’s post here and (ii) Brad Feld’s post here. The purpose of this post is three-fold: (i) to weigh-in from the legal side; (ii) to try to pull the foregoing posts together in an organized manner; and (iii) thereby to provide five practical tips to entrepreneurs in connection with founder vesting. (more…)
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