Five Ways to Handle Startup Founder Disputes

Conflicts with your business associate(s), particularly for start-ups, can be difficult. Most importantly, you want to address and resolve those conflicts before they interrupt your bottom line—building a successful company and promoting a solid venture. It cannot be said enough: Start-ups and any other business relationships should be grounded in written documentation. If you have … Read More

Seven Rookie Mistakes Startups Make When Raising Money

1) Working with the Wrong Kind of Investors There’s a saying in the startup world: “the first money that goes in determines how much money, if any money at all, comes in after.” Regular startup investors are an incestuous lot, and they’re usually a pretty sophisticated group, too. If you look at the resumes of superstar … Read More

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21 Ways to Raise Money for Your Business

Too often, startups lock themselves into thinking that there are only a few ways to raise capital. But that’s not true. There are plenty of different ways to raise money if your business if promising and if you’re creative. VCs and angel investors might have certain vehicles they return to repeatedly, but there’s no reason … Read More

Why Hiring a Good Startup Lawyer is About More Than Just Documents

When you’re a startup lawyer, part of your job is to serve as a document merchant. It’s part of the job, but it’s probably my least favorite part of the job. I love learning from startups. I love working with startups. Working with growing startups to make them better — that’s just what we do. Providing high-quality documents … Read More

Service Marks vs Trademarks – What You Need to Know for Your Startup

Service marks are a counterpart of trademarks, and the two are often used interchangeably. This blog post summarizes what you need to know about service marks. What is a service mark? In contrast to a trademark, a service mark brands, identifies and distinguishes a service, whereas a trademark achieves the exact same function, except for … Read More

Trade Names, Company Names & Trademarks – Sorting Through the Confusion

A common source of confusion is whether the name of one’s company is a trademark. The short answer is that it can be. The rest of this blog will explain the answer more fully. But, before we can proceed, let’s define some terminology: Trade Name –  “Any name used by a person to identify his or … Read More