[This is a parody inspired by Robert Pirsig’s wonderful classic, from the perspective of a man that’s seen a lot of startups come and go, some succeeding and some failing. For the real thing, please go to Amazon and purchase Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.] I can see on my iPhone, without taking … Read More
The number one reason that most startups never succeed is that they fail to recognize that the basic laws of business physics also apply to them. Whether as a startup or mature business, sooner or later you have to do a few basic things: You have to get clients or customers, you have to make … Read More
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
This is a question I try to ask all startups that hire me at the very beginning. And while some startups know right away why they’re doing what they’re doing, a few struggle to answer. Having seen hundreds of startups in their birthing stages, I think the answer to this question drives the answers to … Read More
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
More often than not, most startup founders agree on some sort of equity allocation very early on in the process. Whether it’s a 50-50 split among two, or a 60-20-20 among three, or some other variation, the first thing most founders contemplate when they’re starting a business is who gets what. But this conversation – … Read More
“Only describe, don’t explain.” ― Ludwig Wittgenstein According to Merriam-Webster, a startup is a fledgling company. According to Wikipedia, it’s a partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, you spell start-up with a hyphen. But most people who work in the … Read More