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:
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.
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:
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:
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:
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:
Should We Execute the “Series Seed” Documents with No Negotiations?
by Scott Edward Walker on April 21st, 2011
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
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:
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.
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:
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.
What Are Exploding Term Sheets and No-Shop Provisions?
by Scott Edward Walker on February 9th, 2011
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.
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
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
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
“Ask the Business Attorney”: What Are the Most Common Mistakes Startups Make Dealing with VC’s?
by Scott Edward Walker on July 28th, 2010
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
Webinar for Entrepreneurs: Venture Capital Term Sheets (Plus More)
by Scott Edward Walker on April 15th, 2010
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
Introducing Susan Morgan and Kudos to Ted Wang re the Series Seed Documents
by Scott Edward Walker on March 23rd, 2010
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.)
Five Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in Dealmaking – Part I
by Scott Edward Walker on September 29th, 2009
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…)
Subscribe via RSS
Subscribe via Email
Follow Us On Twitter
