Many small-to-medium sized businesses urgently need equity capital but, because of legal restrictions and the expense of raising private venture capital, these firms often give up on traditional methods of capital raising.  With great expectations, there was a change introduced in the new “Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012” (the “JOBS Act“) in April [...]

On June 14, 2012, Roy M. Terry, Jr. and I were pleased to be faculty for the Virginia CLE in a seminar entitled Chapter 7 Bankruptcy: What the Code and the Rules Won’t Tell You. The seminar, which was broadcast live via telephone and webcast, presented a practical view of the practice of Chapter 7 [...]

Will the new Reg A “Lively Up” America’s Entrepreneurs? President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law last month. The Act is not named after the late entrepreneur, but had he lived to see its passage, I think Steve might have approved.

Guest post by Erin McNeill  NPR recently did a story about Grand Rapids, Michigan’s inspiring response to a Newsweek article listing Grand Rapids as one of America’s “dying cities” with a “bleak” economic outlook. Many small and medium business owners can empathize with what the people of Grand Rapids felt in the face of such [...]

Hire a really good lawyer who knows the ropes. In our last post, we covered dividing up the responsibility for work and success. This time, let’s talk about a crucial team member: your lawyer. Seriously. I know it sounds like a pitch, but I am sincere. Of course we hope that you will hire North [...]

Build your team early. In our last post, we covered normal deal terms that affect how ownership is divided and risk shared. This time, let’s talk about dividing up the responsibility for work and success. No matter how smart, committed, persistent, motivated, talented, indomitable and attractive you may believe yourself to be, no one can [...]

Know your financial structure. In our last post, we covered a number of factors that affect the founder’s ultimate ownership percentage. In this section, we have a bit more detail. What you need to know up front that the venture capital investment process has become highly standardized. In many ways this is a good thing. It helps [...]

“The time has come,” the VC said, “to talk of many things – Of Points and Pies and Preferences and Option Grants with Strings” (With apologies to Lewis Carroll)

Watch what you say. Last time, we focused on having a plan. As a corollary to presenting that plan in your conversations while seeking venture capital, here are some things you should never ever say (or at least do your best to avoid saying) to a venture capitalist: This is really several tips in one post. [...]

Delaware Chancery Court – that’s who!