At the end of the day, our total setup fees were $110,000. Any attempt to renegotiate or correct the billing was firmly rebuffed. Not all of this can be placed at the feet of our firm. Part of the problem was our blue-chip board who were sit-by-the-fire-with-a-cognac comfortable with large corporate legal fees. By the time I realized this, we at spent $65,000 exploring what/if scenarios – without one document getting completed. I immediately took over the project and severed our board's contact with the law firm.

It was embarrassing for me but we paid the bill and moved on. However, the time we spent on nailing every issue from day one was ultimately our saving grace. We have carefully designed balance of controls and well-insulated IP. When rogue investors made several hostile attempts at take-overs and stripping IP, they ran into carefully integrated assignments, subscriptions, and partner agreements.

I now take comfort in the time and expense spent on the start-up phase. We would not still be here today without it. However, I did take away a few lessons on managing legal fees: use capped project fee billing whenever possible; specify which of the firm's partners are allowed to bill; assign one person as their contact; and read (no, study) the bill as soon it arrives.

At the end of the day, our total setup fees were $110,000. Any attempt to renegotiate or correct the billing was firmly rebuffed. Not all of this can be placed at the feet of our firm. Part of the problem was our blue-chip board who were sit-by-the-fire-with-a-cognac comfortable with large corporate legal fees. By the time I realized this, we at spent $65,000 exploring what/if scenarios – without one document getting completed. I immediately took over the project and severed our board's contact with the law firm.

It was embarrassing for me but we paid the bill and moved on. However, the time we spent on nailing every issue from day one was ultimately our saving grace. We have carefully designed balance of controls and well-insulated IP. When rogue investors made several hostile attempts at take-overs and stripping IP, they ran into carefully integrated assignments, subscriptions, and partner agreements.

I now take comfort in the time and expense spent on the start-up phase. We would not still be here today without it. However, I did take away a few lessons on managing legal fees: use capped project fee billing whenever possible; specify which of the firm's partners are allowed to bill; assign one person as their contact; and read (no, study) the bill as soon it arrives.

2 of my views on bootstrapping are:

(1) Excitement is not a substitute for prudence–I often see people get so excited about a project or contract that they become blind to glaring red flags. Like them, I hope for the best. But I also understand bad things can happen to good startups.

(2) Evaluate ROI in terms other than just a short-term cash increase–Obviously when you bootstrap, cash is tight but sometimes you can turn $1,000 spent into $100,000 (of savings).

2 of my views on bootstrapping are:

(1) Excitement is not a substitute for prudence–I often see people get so excited about a project or contract that they become blind to glaring red flags. Like them, I hope for the best. But I also understand bad things can happen to good startups.

(2) Evaluate ROI in terms other than just a short-term cash increase–Obviously when you bootstrap, cash is tight but sometimes you can turn $1,000 spent into $100,000 (of savings).

Having a Bootstrap start-up company myself, I can agree that the need for an attorney's assistance sometime is an unexpected expense.

May getting your view on bootstrapping a start-up would be of benefit to me and your readers.

Having a Bootstrap start-up company myself, I can agree that the need for an attorney's assistance sometime is an unexpected expense.

May getting your view on bootstrapping a start-up would be of benefit to me and your readers.