Author: Ryan Roberts
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Venture Capital Bridge Extension Round Structures
Thinking about all the potential bridge extension rounds that will need to be closed in late 2024 and 2025, and here are my thoughts on the structure: If you do equity, and assuming it’s the same valuation, you could do an ‘extension round’ which essentially builds off the prior preferred round. This would increase the…
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How to Check Availability and Reserve Your Startup’s Name in Delaware
Luckily, and unlike most states, Delaware has a free online system for checking legal entity name availability. That system can be found here. It is relatively easy to use and will make your filing process more efficient. For example, if you file a certificate of incorporation with a name that is already taken, your filing…
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Importance of Using Exact Share Numbers Instead of Percentages
It is very common for startup founders to talk about the ownership of their startup in terms of percentages. This makes perfect sense when providing a snapshot of the startup ownership at any given moment. But without immediate follow-through it may not be the best way to give a prospective co-founder or new hire an…
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Sorry, Not Sorry: Still Delaware C Corporations for Early-Stage Tech Companies
Are you planning on getting venture funding or do you want to sell your tech startup for a big chunk of change one day? Then it’s extremely likely your startup should be a Delaware C-Corp. A disturbing trend has emerged in the last couple of years with “startup lawyers” recommending new startups incorporate as an…
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Acceleration Book Update – 1 Month
I wanted to give a brief update on the launch of my new startup law book. The book was launched March 5, 2019 and on the very next day…I left for a family vacation on the other side of the world. So, no real marketing push other than a blog post and a LinkedIn update.…
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Acceleration Startup Law Book Title and Cover Design
Thought I might take some time to explain the origin of the title and the book cover design for “Acceleration: What All Entrepreneurs Must Know About Startup Law“. The Title — Acceleration Quite often a new client will start off our first meeting with something like “We messed up the legal at our last startup so we…
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So I wrote a Startup Law Book called “Acceleration”
If you follow this blog, then you probably know new posts have been harder to find than a four-leafed clover in the desert. But I had a good reason — I’ve spent the good portion of the last 3 years putting together a startup law book, when I wasn’t doing my venture lawyer day job…
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Voting Rights of Vesting Shares
One of the most asked questions I receive when setting up new startup companies is “Do my vesting shares have any voting rights?” Or in other words, does a stockholder only get to vote based on their amount of vested shares? Since most of the times a founder subjects their entire share amount to a vesting…
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U.S. VC Process for Indian Startups
As an India-based startup, closing on U.S. venture capital is similar to doing so if your company was completely US-based, with a few notable differences. In the past several years, I’ve represented several India-based startups through venture capital financings. To name just a few, clients have included Freshworks (formerly FreshDesk), WizRocket, and Shopalyst. They, along…
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Accelerator Investments Should Be Convertible Equity
I previously wrote that accelerator documents should be easy. At the time, I thought accelerator documents should be easy primarily because of the potential adverse selection problem for the accelerator. In other words, the more difficult the terms or onboarding process (including the investment documents), the more likely the best startups would choose a different…