I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past week and a couple of blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
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.]
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.
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we again present Jeff Clavier, the Founder and Managing Partner of SoftTech VC, and a smart, savvy investor.
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we again present Mark Pincus, the founder and CEO of Zynga and a brilliant entrepreneur.
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past week and a couple of blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past week and a couple of blog and firm-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
Below is a list of my top ten posts in 2011 based solely on pageviews. Indeed, I was inspired by Chris Dixon and his post of last night (which you should definitely check-out). Moreover, I’m publishing an eBook with Hyperink entitled The Startup Law Playbook, which should be available shortly. If you ping me, I’ll send you a free copy (provided that you agree to give me feedback). Happy New Year!
1. Legal Checklist for Startups
2. House Passes Crowdfunding Bill: FAQ’s For Entrepreneurs
3. What’s It Like Working At A Major New York City Law Firm?
4. How To Hire A Superstar Engineer For Your Startup
5. How To Launch A Startup And Avoid Ending-Up In Jail
6. 3 Ways For Startups To Cut Their Legal Fees In Half
7. What Is A Liquidation Preference?
8. What Makes A Great Entrepreneur?
9. What Is A Price-Based Antidilution Adjustment?
10. What Are Exploding Term Sheets And No-Shop Provisions?
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past week and a couple of blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
Welcome to our weekly series “Motivational Clips for Entrepreneurs.” Each week, we post a short video clip to inspire and motivate entrepreneurs. Why? Because we know how tough it is being an entrepreneur; and whether you’re launching a venture, trying to execute your business model or raising funds, you need a little juice to help you push the ball forward. This is the story of Visible Measures Corp. – from MIT to a Series A financing by General Catalyst Partners. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, Scott
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a crowdfunding bill that will allow startups to offer and sell securities via crowdfunding sites and social networking sites.
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past week and a couple of blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past two weeks and a couple of blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past week and a couple of blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past week and a couple of blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
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.
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past week and a couple of blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we post a short video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics to help entrepreneurs succeed.
This week, we again present startup guru Eric Ries, author of the new book The Lean Startup and a very smart entrepreneur; he previously co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of IMVU and blogs at Startup Lessons Learned.
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) for the past 10 days and a couple of Quora-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this past week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this past week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series entitled “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we are sharing a bonus video: the first keynote address at the 7th Founder Showcase in San Francisco entitled “The Anatomy of a Fundable Startup,” presented by Naval Ravikant. This is the bookend to Mark Suster’s address, “Getting Funded in a Frothy Market” (which we posted on Friday).
Introduction
I love working with startups – and trying to protect founders and watch their backs. Not only are there key contractual issues that must be buttoned-down (like vesting and IP assignment), but also there is a minefield of laws and regulations that must be complied with. Indeed, in a world of easy access to online documents, it is often this legal compliance which is overlooked by founders, as they attempt to stay “lean” and “scrappy” (and sometimes even handle the legal work themselves or through a web service). As discussed below, however, non-compliance with certain laws could lead to founders’ criminal liability.
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this past week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this past week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
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 310-288-6667 (Los Angeles) or 415-979-9998 (San Francisco). Many thanks, Scott
Question
We launched a consumer internet site about a year ago, and we’re starting to get some really good traction. We’ve spoken to a bunch of angel investors and they all told us that we need to get an engineer on our team (my partner and I are both business guys and we outsourced the development). The problem is we’re in Silicon Valley, and we obviously don’t have the money to compete with the big tech companies for talent. Can you please give us some advice on hiring a superstar engineer and the key legal issues that we should be addressing. Thanks!
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series entitled “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we post a short video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics.
This week, we present a panel of extraordinary entrepreneurs and investors moderated by Don Dodge: Joe Kraus, currently a partner at Google Ventures; Paul Buchheit, currently a partner at Y Combinator; and Seth Priebatsch, the founder of SCVNGR. You can follow them on Twitter at @DonDodge, @jkraus, @paultoo and @sethpriebatsch, respectively.
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this past week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Cheers, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this past week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Thanks, Scott
Introduction
This is part 2 of 2 of my post regarding the excellent book Do More Faster, which is a collection of articles/blog posts by successful entrepreneurs and investors, including the editors David Cohen, the founder and CEO of TechStars, and Brad Feld, the managing director of Foundry Group.
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this past week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Thanks, Scott
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
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Thanks, Scott
“We have these things in our head, and we just want to get them built.” –Dennis Crowley
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “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 again present Dennis Crowley, Co-founder and CEO of foursquare and a super smart and successful entrepreneur. In this interesting, four-minute interview with Chris Dixon (courtesy of TechCrunch TV), Dennis discusses (i) launching a startup in New York City, (ii) fundraising and (iii) growing from 2 to 50 people (i.e., “building the machine that builds the products”). I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Introduction
I just finished reading the book Do More Faster, which is a collection of blog posts/articles by successful entrepreneurs and investors edited by David Cohen, the founder and CEO of TechStars, and Brad Feld, the managing director of Foundry Group. As Brad noted on his blog: “Our goal was to write a unique book full of useful information for any early stage entrepreneur. Rather than give advice or simply tell an entrepreneurial success story, we decided to blend the experience of the TechStars entrepreneurs and the TechStars mentors in an organized fashion.”
Below are a few nuggets from the first half of the book; I will share some second-half quotes in my next post. Cheers, 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 Fred Destin, a partner at Atlas Venture and a smart investor (and a good guy). In this interesting presentation in Berlin last year, Fred discusses how to pitch your startup to investors, including (i) honing your story, (ii) how to get past “no”, (iii) the importance of a business model and (iv) traction. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Hacking Venture Capital – Fred Destin – pt1 from Seedcamp on Vimeo.
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles, Quora answers and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. If you missed this week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Thanks, Scott
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we post a short video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics to help entrepreneurs succeed.
This week, we present startup guru Eric Ries, who is an author, speaker and consultant for The Lean Startup and a very smart guy; previously, he co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of IMVU. In this interesting 15-minute speech from the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, Eric provides an excellent overview of his lean startup methodology, including (i) how a startup is an experiment; (ii) the importance of the pivot; (iii) validated learning; and (iv) the feedback loop. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Background
As I have previously discussed, I began my legal career as a corporate associate at two major law firms in New York City. After nearly eight years, however, I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life helping entrepreneurs (like my father) — not executing large, complex transactions for multi-national corporations and private equity funds.
I also saw a big problem in the legal marketplace: entrepreneurs and their companies were paying a small fortune to have their legal work done by junior associates getting on-the-job training; or, put another way, the big-firm template just didn’t work for entrepreneurs. (I discuss this issue in detail in the video on our home page.)
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “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 again present Marc Andreessen, a brilliant entrepreneur and co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz; he is also co-founder and chairman of Ning. In this interesting, two-minute clip (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), Marc discusses the general criteria for a successful, high-tech startup: (i) Is there a big market? (ii) Is there a “10x change” happening in the landscape? and (iii) Is the team outstanding? I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles, Quora answers and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues.
If you missed this week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Thanks, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles, Quora answers and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues.
If you missed this week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Thanks, Scott
Introduction
I get this question all the time (in one form or another): “Hey Scott, can I raise money for my startup via Twitter? I have a lot of followers, and I know some of them would be interested in investing.” As discussed below, the answer is no — unless the tweet is a direct message (a “DM”) to a follower with whom you have a substantive, pre-existing relationship.
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 again present startup guru Steve Blank, a retired, highly-successful serial entrepreneur (with 30+ years of venture experience) and one of the smartest startup guys out there. In this powerful clip (courtesy of the Shoshin Project), Steve discusses, among other things, (i) the importance of hubris, vision and passion; (ii) how entrepreneurship is a “calling” – “not a job”; (iii) the importance of getting out of the building to learn what the customer wants; and (iv) how a startup is “nothing more than a series of guesses.” I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Craig Johnson
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 Dave McClure, a smart entrepreneur turned angel investor and venture capitalist and founding partner of 500 Startups, an internet startup seed fund and incubator program headquartered in Mountain View. In this interesting recent interview (courtesy of Vator.TV), Dave discusses, among other things, (i) how his fund differentiates from other funds; (ii) the changing M&A market (and the new set of potential acquirors); (iii) portfolio company exit strategies; and (iv) customer acquisition. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
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 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 Scott Belsky, the founder and CEO of Behance and the author of the best-selling book Making Ideas Happen. In this interesting, four-minute interview with Henry Blodget (courtesy of Business Insider), Scott discusses (i) why he quit Goldman Sachs to launch a startup: (ii) his desire “to do what he loves”: and (iii) the value of startup experience. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship & startups, mergers & acquisitions, and business & corporate law issues.
For those of you who missed this week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Thanks, Scott
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