Posts Tagged ‘due diligence’
VC Term Sheets – Investors’ Option to Walk
by Scott Edward Walker on September 14th, 2011Introduction
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:
- common mistakes dealing with VC’s
- valuation
- liquidation preferences
- stock options
- exploding term sheets and no-shop provisions
- anti-dilution provisions
- dividends
- Board control
- protective provisions
- drag-along provisions
- pay-to-play and pull-up provisions
- conversion rights
- non-contractual rights
- redemption rights
In today’s post, I examine the non-binding and conditional language in term sheets.
“Ask the Attorney” – Acquiring a Company (Part 1)
by Scott Edward Walker on April 28th, 2010Introduction
This post is part of my weekly “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of the most popular websites for entrepreneurs). As the VentureBeat Editor notes on the site: “Ask the Attorney is a new VentureBeat feature allowing start-up owners to get answers to their legal questions.”
I have two goals here: (i) to encourage entrepreneurs to ask law-related questions regardless of how basic they may be; and (ii) to provide helpful responses in plain English (as opposed to legalese). Please give me your feedback in the comments section. Many thanks, Scott
Lessons Learned In The Trenches Of Two Big NYC Law Firms
by Scott Edward Walker on December 9th, 2009Introduction
My blog post last week addressed angel financing and included five legal tips for entrepreneurs to help them through the angel financing process. I had intended to post a part 2 (adding five more tips), but I thought I would try something different to break things up a little. Accordingly, below is a brief video of three lessons that I learned in the big-firm trenches as a young corporate associate in New York City.
Oddly enough, I actually look back with fondness on those eight years (including all the all-nighters and weekends working on deals) because of the solid training that I received – which I can finally appreciate practicing law out here in California. Here are the three lessons: (1) do your due diligence; (2) watch-out using forms from other deals or off the web; and (3) create a competitive environment. This is part one of an ongoing series. (Note: videos are tricky and can put some people off; thus, I have also included below the substance of the video in written format.)
Buying A Business: Ten Tips For Entrepreneurs
by Scott Edward Walker on October 6th, 2009As I have previously noted, I was a corporate attorney for nearly eight years at two major law firms in New York City, and the majority of my work there was spent negotiating and documenting large mergers and acquisitions for multinational corporations, financial institutions and private equity firms. When I moved here to California in 2005 and started focusing on representing entrepreneurs (which meant predominately middle-market M&A transactions), I was surprised to see how unsophisticated a lot of the players are; in short, it’s a different environment than New York. Nevertheless, I love helping entrepreneurs, and I am trying to provide to them (via these blog posts) some legal tips and lessons I learned at the big firms in New York City. Below are ten tips for entrepreneurs and founders who are contemplating acquiring a private company. (more…)