Posts Tagged ‘accredited investors’
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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Tags: accredited investors, broker-dealer, convertible note, convertible note seed financings, Fenwick, Form D, founders, premium, Rule 506, securities laws, seed financings, Series A, Start Fund, startup, TechCrunch, Y Combinator
Posted in Angel Issues, Securities Law Issues | Comments Off on Convertible Note Seed Financings: Founders Beware!
Fundraising 101: Checklist for Entrepreneurs
by Scott Edward Walker on May 9th, 2012
I’ve been a corporate lawyer for 18+ years, and there are certain fundamental mistakes that I’ve seen entrepreneurs repeatedly make in connection with fundraising. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to provide a simple checklist tailored to first-time entrepreneurs. I’ve also included links to prior posts for a detailed discussion.
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Tags: accredited investors, checklist for entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, Form D, founders, friends and family, fundraising, investors, pitch deck, valutation
Posted in Angel Issues, Securities Law Issues, VC Issues | 3 Comments »
Legal Checklist for Startups
by Scott Edward Walker on November 2nd, 2011
I’ve been a corporate lawyer for 17+ years, and there are certain fundamental legal mistakes that I’ve seen startups repeatedly make. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to provide a simple checklist for startups, which includes links to prior posts for a more detailed discussion. (This post was originally published as part of the “Ask the Attorney” series I am writing for VentureBeat.)
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Tags: 409A, 83(b) election, accredited investors, checklist for startups, corporate lawyer, equity, IP ownership, legal checklist, legal fees, stock options, vesting schedules
Posted in Startup Issues | 2 Comments »
How To Launch a Startup and Avoid Ending-up in Jail
by Scott Edward Walker on June 23rd, 2011
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 and web sites like LegalZoom, it is often this legal compliance which is overlooked by founders, as they attempt to stay “lean” and “scrappy.” As discussed below, however, non-compliance with certain laws and regulations could lead to founders’ criminal liability.
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Tags: accredited investors, Chris Dixon, finders, illegal immigrants, independent contractor, IP assignment, minimum wage, misclassifying employee, payroll taxes, privacy laws, sales taxes, securities laws, startup, startups, vesting
Posted in Startup Issues | Comments Off on How To Launch a Startup and Avoid Ending-up in Jail
Walker Twitter Highlights: July 25th – 31st
by Scott Edward Walker on August 1st, 2010
I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting articles, blog posts and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship, startup and corporate law issues, and mergers & acquisitions.
For those of you who missed this week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and two most popular blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Many thanks, Scott
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Tags: Aaron Levie, accountants, accredited investors, bankers, Box.net, entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, founder, Lawyers, Mark Pincus, mergers, startups, twitter, Twitter Highlights, VCs
Posted in Twitter Highlights | Comments Off on Walker Twitter Highlights: July 25th – 31st
“Ask the Business Attorney” – Will the New Financial Reform Bill Destroy Angel Investing?
by Scott Edward Walker on July 21st, 2010
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
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Tags: accredited, accredited investors, business attorney, Dodd, Form D, new worth, private placement, Regulation D, rescission, Rule 506, SEC, securities laws, startup
Posted in Angel Issues, Ask the Attorney | Comments Off on “Ask the Business Attorney” – Will the New Financial Reform Bill Destroy Angel Investing?
“Ask the Business Attorney” – What Are the Biggest Legal Mistakes Startups Make Raising Capital?
by Scott Edward Walker on July 7th, 2010
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.
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Tags: accredited investors, broker, business attorney, convertible notes, diligencing, finder, Form D, investors, preferred stock, SEC, securities laws, securities lawyer, startup, unregistered finder
Posted in Ask the Attorney, Securities Law Issues | 4 Comments »
“Ask the Business Attorney” – What Are the Biggest Legal Mistakes that Startups Make?
by Scott Edward Walker on June 9th, 2010
Introduction
This post was originally part of my “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of the most popular websites for entrepreneurs). Below is a longer, more comprehensive version — with ten mistakes, instead of six.
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Tags: 83(b) election, accredited investors, business attorney, choice of entity, diligence, employment, entrepreneurs, equity, incorporation, IP, legalzoom, raising capital, securities, securities laws, splitting equity, stock options, vesting, vesting restrictions
Posted in Ask the Attorney | 10 Comments »
“Ask the Attorney” – Securities Laws
by Scott Edward Walker on January 12th, 2010
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).
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Tags: accredited investors, entrepreneurs, Form D, private placement, Rule 501, Rule 506, SEC, Securities Act, securities laws, securities lawyer
Posted in Ask the Attorney, Securities Law Issues | 16 Comments »