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 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. I know this stuff tends to be very technical (and perhaps boring), but it is nevertheless critical that entrepreneurs have a basic understanding of the securities laws.
Below is a copy of the letter I just emailed to Senator Dodd’s office with respect to his new financial regulatory reform bill and its material adverse effect on angel investments.
Introduction
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
Introduction
This post is part of a new series entitled “Ask the Attorney,” which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of my favorite 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.”
The goal here is two-fold: (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).
Introduction
I am currently working with several smart, young entrepreneurs who are trying to raise capital from “angels” (i.e., wealthy individuals who invest in start-up companies). Indeed, since I moved to Los Angeles from New York City in 2005, I have been involved in a number of angel financings; and what’s interesting from my perspective as a corporate attorney is that the deals run the gamut from an angel handing a check to an entrepreneur and instructing him to “send the paperwork when it’s ready” — to an angel retaining a large, aggressive law firm and insisting on shares of preferred stock, with all the “bells and whistles.” Below are five tips for entrepreneurs to help them through the angel financing process. (This is part one of a two-part series; I will provide five additional tips in my next post.) (more…)
In light of the Madoff affair and other significant external pressures, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and State securities law commissions and departments are dramatically stepping-up enforcement of securities laws. Indeed, there is a heightened level of regulatory scrutiny that entrepreneurs need to be aware of as they struggle to raise capital during this difficult economic period. I have discussed the most common securities law violations in a relatively recent post: “Five Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in Raising Capital”; and as I pointed out in “Mistake #1”, non-compliance with applicable securities laws could result in serious adverse consequences. (more…)
For those of you who do not follow Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC (Walker) on Twitter, I have set forth below highlights of our tweets for the past seven days (in reverse chronological order). I indeed hope that a few of the links to articles, blog posts, podcasts and videos are helpful to our clients and friends. If you would like to follow Walker on Twitter (or if you would like to receive an RSS feed of our tweets), you can sign-up here. You can also check out the recent tweets of some of the entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and others Walker is following by clicking their photos on such page. If you have any questions or comments (or if you would like any additional information) with respect to any of the tweets below, please contact me through the comments section of this post. Many thanks, Scott (more…)
As I mentioned in a recent post, one of things that surprised me when I moved to Southern California from New York City in 2005 was the lack of sophistication of some of the players in the so-called “middle market.” Indeed, I was particularly surprised to see so many investment bankers and other intermediaries running around and raising capital for private companies without being registered as a “broker-dealer” with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). As I have previously discussed (see mistake #4 here ), this is a huge potential problem for the issuer, particularly in light of the recent changes to SEC Form D. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to entrepreneurs to provide them with a basic understanding of the new, revised Form D and related securities laws via a question-and-answer format. (more…)
