Author: Ryan Roberts
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Shouldn’t the Standardization of Venture Capital Documents Lead to Reduced Legal Fees?
As an industry, venture capital is relatively young. Yet it has been around long enough–through busts and booms–that it will not simply go away as some might have you think. Venture capital is a legitimate industry which is now being enhanced through standards and patterns. Documentation is one area that is trending towards consistency in…
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Keep the Bridge Burning to a Minimum
A few months ago, I was on a conference call with opposing counsel to negotiate a client’s deal. Things got a little heated (the only time I’ve ever experienced a hostile communication with another attorney) and eventually I got hung up on. I was about to call the attorney back and show him what I…
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(Apparently) The Startup Lawyer is worth $2,340,000
I thought I’d take Younoodle’s Startup Predictor for a test drive and therefore I had it value this blog. Younoodle is an online entrepreneur community and its “Startup Predictor” estimates what a startup company’s value will be in 3 years. (Hey if blog networks are getting VC funding, this blog is practically a “startup.”) I…
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Venture Fund Economics Series
I thought you should know that Fred Wilson is currently posting a fantastic series about Venture Fund Economics on his wildly-popular venture capital blog, “A VC.” So far, Fred has written about venture fund gross and net returns and how venture funds may have one deal that pays off so well that it returns the…
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What is a Pre-money and Post-money Valuation?
When a startup raises capital, valuation is main economic term that must be tackled. The two main ways valuation is expressed in venture capital financings are what’s known as the “pre-money valuation” and the “post-money valuation”. The startup’s valuation immediately before the venture capital investment is called “pre-money valuation” while the startup’s valuation immediately after the venture capital financing is closed…
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Google Planning to Launch Venture Capital Fund
The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, and VentureBeat are reporting this morning that Google is currently putting the pieces together to launch an internal venture capital arm. This isn’t the first time rumors have swirled about Google launching a venture capital fund, but the speculation is increasing based upon Google’s hiring of William Maris, a former…
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You Can’t Polish a Sneaker
Why your startup may have the right employee incentive plan but the wrong employee
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5 Signs Your Startup Jumped The Shark
How to know whether your startup company has reached the beginning of the end
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A Primer on LLCs
The limited liability company (LLC) is a relatively new legal entity which got its start in the late 1980s. As the name implies, an LLC provides limited liability to its participants called “members” while containing the assets and operations of the business enterprise. Please keep in mind that LLCs are regulated at the state level,…
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Reverse Breakup Fees: More Trendy than the 3G iPhone
It looks as though private equity buyers better get used to seeing reverse breakup fees and other seller-friendly provisions in their merger agreements. TheDeal.com details how reverse breakup fees are becoming industry-standard provisions in private equity LBO deals in a new article called “Desperately Seeking Certainty:” Starting with the 2005 sale of Neiman Marcus Group…