Posts Tagged ‘Fenwick’

Convertible Note Seed Financings: Founders Beware!

by Scott Edward Walker on May 15th, 2012

This post is the third 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 the basics.  Part 2, entitled “Convertible Note Seed Financings: Econ 101 for Founders,” addressed the economics.  This part will address certain tricky issues.

[This post was originally published on TechCrunch.]

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Convertible Note Seed Financings: Econ 101 for Founders

by Scott Edward Walker on April 22nd, 2012

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.]

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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.)

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