All Posts: ‘Videos’

The 5 Biggest Legal Mistakes That Startups Make

by Scott Edward Walker on July 1st, 2014

My law firm recently entered into a new partnership with This Week in Startups and sponsored their live fireside chat last month in San Francisco with authors Nick Bilton and Brad Stone.  Prior to the event, I conducted a legal workshop entitled “The 5 Biggest Legal Mistakes That Startups Make,” which I have uploaded above.  If you would like to jump to different sections of the video, here’s how it breaks down:

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Lessons Learned In The Trenches Of Two Big NYC Law Firms

by Scott Edward Walker on December 9th, 2009

Introduction

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.)

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Behind The Big Law-Firm Curtain: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

by Scott Edward Walker on October 27th, 2009

I’ve been doing deals as a corporate attorney for over 15 years now, including nearly 8 years in the trenches at two big law firms in New York City.  Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful for entrepreneurs if I briefly peel back the curtain of the big law firm and explain how these firms work (i.e., the good, the bad, the ugly) so that entrepreneurs can make an informed decision as to whether it makes sense to be working with a big law firm with respect to a particular corporate project.  Obviously, some of this is a bit self-serving, but entrepreneurs need to understand that the assumption “the bigger, the better” — i.e., the bigger the law firm, the better the representation — is not necessarily the case.  The video version of this post is set forth directly below.

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Five Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in Dealmaking – Part I

by Scott Edward Walker on September 29th, 2009

I’ve been doing deals as a corporate attorney for over 15 years, including nearly eight years in the trenches at two major law firms in New York City; and during that period, I have seen certain mistakes made by entrepreneurs (and inexperienced deal guys) over and over again.  The purpose of this post (which is part I of a series) is to discuss the following five basic mistakes made by entrepreneurs in connection with corporate transactions: (1) the failure to diligence the guys on the other side of the table; (2) the failure to build a strong transaction team; (3) the failure to run the negotiations through the lawyers; (4) the failure to check their emotions and to remain disciplined; and (5) blinking first.  The video version of this post is set forth immediately below.

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Five Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make In Raising Capital

by Scott Edward Walker on September 21st, 2009

This post discusses the five most common mistakes entrepreneurs make in raising capital: (i) playing securities lawyer; (ii) selling securities to non-“accredited investors”; (iii) advertising or soliciting investors; (iv) using an unregistered finder to sell securities; and (v) selling preferred stock to angel investors.  The abridged video version is directly below. 

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