Category: Commercial Contracts
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Big Boy Expenses for Entrepreneurs
While the stereotypical tech startup entrepreneur is 23 years old, single and has no children, the reality is that many tech startup entrepreneurs are married and/or have children. Don’t avoid “big boy” expenses just because you are bootstrapping. That is, make sure you have (or at least look into obtaining) insurance against life’s big risks…
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White-Label Mobile App Users: Who Owns Them?
As mobile applications continue to gain popularity, more white-label mobile app deals are popping up. And while both the startup and the large company will certainly contract with respect to intellectual property asset ownership, an asset that may be overlooked is the ownership of the white-label mobile app’s users. Worst-case scenario, ownership of the white-label…
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White-Label is the New Black for Startups
I’ve been seeing a lot of white-label deals for startup clients in the past couple months. A white-label product or service is a product or service produced by one company (the startup) that another company rebrands for their own use or distribution. The company desiring to rebrand the startup’s product or service may just want…
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Generate Goodwill Instead of Burning a Bridge
A frequent issue entrepreneurs, myself included, deal with is having to handle negative situations with due care and class so as to not erode startup company goodwill, not to mention other business tangibles and intangibles. You can create goodwill for your startup company many ways. And most are fairly obvious. But truly great entrepreneurs have…
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How to Avoid Being Ripped Off When You Lease Office Space, Part III
Critical information about various commercial office leasing terms, tricks, and traps.
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How to Avoid Being Ripped Off When You Lease Office Space, Part II
This article is part II in a series about leasing office space. In part I, we discussed how a tenant’s representative can help–and hurt–your office space search. In part II, we’ll discuss some provisions to consider negotiating before your startup company signs a commercial office space lease. The following list is in no particular order…
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How to Avoid Being Ripped Off When You Lease Office Space, Part I
A commercial office space lease is a complicated legal document and is usually your startup company’s first big contract. A real estate broker is a great resource to find available office space and determine the market rents. However, your lease’s location and rent provisions account for about only 10% of the language in a commercial…
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The Scoop on Franchise Royalty Fees
Buying into a franchise is one method an entrepreneur might undertake to start his or her own business. Franchises provide the entrepreneur with name-recognition, training and operational support from day one in exchange for an initial franchise fee and continuing franchise royalty payments. While the initial franchise fee is a one-time lump sum payment, the…
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Leasing Office Space
Once you’ve outgrown your garage, your home office or your executive suite, you will probably consider leasing commercial office space. The best advice I can give you, the entrepreneur, is to treat the office space lease process the same way you might the car buying process. If you don’t, you could end up legally responsible…