This past Sunday’s New York Times magazine had a fascinating, and ultimately disheartening, article about an entrepreneur who did what great entrepreneurs do. He developed a technology to solve a pressing social problem, specifically, the problem of people texting while driving. Everyone knows this is a huge problem. According to one study, this is now a […]
SEE UPDATE#1 BELOW Most startups are in “bootstrapping” mode, which often includes compensating founders and early employees only with equity. In the early-stage community, we view that kind of frugality commendable, and respect founders who go all-in with equity. The problem is, labor laws require a company to pay its employees at least minimum wage […]
As some of you know, my preferred mode of transportation is my Brompton (best bike ever, hands down), and that’s generally how I arrive at my appointments. I am amused by the fact that people here in Chicago consistently assume that I am a bicycle messenger. I have a feeling that if I were in […]
I deal with as little paper as possible, but as everyone knows, the “paperless office” is still a far-off land. However, I am making the most of my waste paper. It gives me tremendous satisfaction to turn verbose or contentious legal documents into … compost. Yes, after shredding documents, I feed them to goodcounsel’s cracker-jack […]
I loved the piece in Inc. entitled “5 Ways to Stop Legal-Fee Madness” by Howard Tullman, a legendary Chicago entrepreneur who recently became the CEO of 1871, one of the premiere startup incubators in the area. I agree with just about everything Howard says. Stop for a moment, go read it, and come back and […]
I know that it’s hard to imagine “feeling sorry” for venture capitalists. We think of them as very savvy, sometimes sharp-elbowed people, who typically make a good deal of money. But read Bessemer Venture Partners’ amazing page, detailing their “anti-portfolio” — companies that were presented to them for investment and that they passed on. Companies […]
Lawyer marketing frequently emphasizes — what else? — the importance of hiring lawyers. As someone who has himself stood in the shoes of the cash-conserving entrepreneur, however, I understand the reluctance to use precious startup capital on legal fees. It is possible to significantly overspend on legal services — either by buying too many services […]
We do a lot of convertible notes at goodcounsel, so we try to keep with the state of the art. A year or so ago, some West Coast incubators teamed up with the Wilson Sonsini law firm to create a type of convertible equity for seed, financings intended to replace convertible debt. Convertible debt minus […]
In an earlier post, I described the major points of the proposed crowdfunding rules issued by the SEC (known as “Regulation Crowdfunding”) pursuant to the JOBS Act. Now, I’d like to offer my reactions. My basic reaction is this: you have got to be kidding me.
At last, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed “Regulation Crowdfunding” (the rules implementing Title III of the JOBS Act). I apologize for my delay in posting about this, but in my defense, the release containing the proposed rules is 585 pages long. (The length alone gives one pause about how workable this regulatory […]