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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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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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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How To Launch a Startup and Avoid Ending-up in Jail

by Scott Edward Walker on June 23rd, 2011

Introduction

jail

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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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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“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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“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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“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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“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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