Should I Sign an Exclusive Reseller Agreement for My Product? The Offer on the Table A bigger distributor wants to be the only one selling my product in this territory. Is that a growth channel, or a trap? The offer looks good on paper. A partner with an existing sales team, and a real path
Should I Sign an Exclusive Reseller Agreement for My Product? Read More »
Can My Company Guarantee My Foreign Subsidiary’s Lease Without Board Approval? The Guarantee That Never Makes the Board Agenda My subsidiary can’t get a lease, a vendor contract, or an equipment loan signed abroad unless my US company backs it. So I sign the guarantee to keep the deal moving, and it never makes it to the board agenda or gets
Can My Company Guarantee My Foreign Subsidiary’s Lease Without Board Approval? Read More »
Is My Fractional CFO Actually My Employee, Not My Contractor? The Real Question Am I treating my fractional CFO like staff and calling them a contractor on paper? I brought on a fractional CFO, or a “founding advisor,” for equity, a small retainer, and a title. They run board prep, manage my team, and make
Is My Fractional CFO Actually My Employee, Not My Contractor? Read More »
Could My Own Investor Updates Turn Into a Fraud Lawsuit Years From Now? The Habit That Turns Into a Lawsuit I send investors a quick update. The app is almost done. Nobody double-checks the wording before I hit send. That habit feels harmless right up until it isn’t. The gap between what I said and what I built has years to grow
Could My Own Investor Updates Turn Into a Fraud Lawsuit Years From Now? Read More »
Is My New Executive’s Equity Single Trigger or Double Trigger, and Why Does It Matter? Did I just hand my new CFO a parachute I can’t afford, or a promise that protects no one? I raised my round, hired the VP of Sales or CFO I needed, and the offer letter mentioned “accelerated vesting on a change
Is My New Executive’s Equity Single Trigger or Double Trigger, and Why Does It Matter? Read More »
Should I Switch My Company From Big Law Hourly Billing to Fixed-Fee Outside Counsel? The Question Behind the Invoice Am I getting my money’s worth from the firm billing me by the hour? I check my invoice from last month against the one from three months ago. The number moves. A quick contract review costs a different amount depending on which
Should I Switch My Company From Big Law Hourly Billing to Fixed-Fee Outside Counsel? Read More »
Do I Need a Transfer Pricing Study for My Foreign Subsidiary? I already have an agreement with my foreign subsidiary. It says what I pay them for R&D or services. So why would a tax authority still have a problem with the price? An agreement says what the price is. It doesn’t prove the price is right.
Do I Need a Transfer Pricing Study for My Foreign Subsidiary? Read More »
Did I Just Accept Unlimited Liability to Close My Biggest Enterprise Deal? The Redline Nobody Flagged I just landed the enterprise logo my board has been asking about for two quarters. Legal review felt like the last thing standing between me and a signed contract. The redlines came back mostly clean. One section barely changed: indemnification (my promise to
Did I Just Accept Unlimited Liability to Close My Biggest Enterprise Deal? Read More »
Who Owns the IP When My Startup Co-Builds Tech With a Bigger Partner? A partner 10 times my size wants to build something with me. Their platform, my technology, one roadmap. It feels like validation. It might also be the fastest way to lose what makes my company worth funding. Joint development deals rarely spell out who owns
Who Owns the IP When My Startup Co-Builds Tech With a Bigger Partner? Read More »
What Happens to My Board Consent Rights the Moment My Portfolio Company Signs an LOI? How I Found Out My portfolio company just told me it signed a letter of intent to sell. Nobody asked me first. I still have a board seat. I still have consent rights in the investment documents. But the company is now
What Happens to My Board Consent Rights the Moment My Portfolio Company Signs an LOI? Read More »
Master venture capital investment structuring with tax-efficient strategies that protect investor returns and minimize tax liability.
Venture Capital Investment Structuring: Tax-Efficient, Investor-Friendly Approaches Read More »
What Is a Service Level Agreement (SLA)? Your sales deck says 99.9% uptime. Your first real enterprise prospect just asked you to put that number in the contract, with money attached to it if you miss. Those are two very different promises. The first is marketing. The second is a commitment you can be held
What Is a Service Level Agreement (SLA)? Read More »
Service Level Agreements for Startups: What Are You Actually Promising? Your sales deck says 99.9% uptime. Your first real enterprise prospect just asked you to put that number in the contract, with money attached if you miss. Those are two different promises. The first is marketing. The second is a commitment you can be held
Service Level Agreements for Startups: What Are You Actually Promising? Read More »
Do You Need a Beta Testing Agreement Before You Ship? You are shipping a beta. It is rough, you have told everyone it is rough, and the point is to learn what breaks. The word “beta” does a lot of work in engineering conversations. It does much less in a contract, and almost none in
Do You Need a Beta Testing Agreement Before You Ship? Read More »
Whose Data Trained Your AI Feature? The Licensing Question Founders Ignore Until It’s Too Late You have shipped an AI feature. Customers like it. The product works. Then an investor’s lawyer asks one simple question during diligence: Where did the training data come from? Your engineering team may know which model you used. Your product
Which Contract Actually Wins When Your MSA and Order Form Disagree? Your sales team just closed a new customer. The order form is signed. The pricing works. The service term is clear. Everyone thinks the deal is done. Then you notice one sentence buried in the order form. It gives the customer a warranty that
Which Contract Actually Wins When Your MSA and Order Form Disagree? Read More »
What Happens to Your Customer Contracts When Your Cloud Vendor Goes Down? Your biggest customer calls after a major infrastructure outage. They want to know what your contract promises. How much uptime did you guarantee? What remedy do they receive? Can they terminate the agreement? Are you responsible for their losses? You open the contract
What Happens to Your Customer Contracts When Your Cloud Vendor Goes Down? Read More »
The Buyer Wants 90 Days of Exclusivity Before a Deal Is Final. Should You Say Yes? A buyer just sent you a letter of intent. The purchase price looks attractive. The terms seem promising. You are excited to finally have a serious buyer at the table. Then you reach the exclusivity clause. The buyer wants
The Buyer Wants 90 Days of Exclusivity Before a Deal Is Final. Should You Say Yes? Read More »
Is Your Data Legally Allowed to Move Between Your Own Companies? Your US parent and foreign subsidiary use the same CRM. Your HR team works from the same platform. Your analytics team uses one dashboard across the group. From an operational perspective, the companies may feel like one business. Legally, they are not. A founder
Is Your Data Legally Allowed to Move Between Your Own Companies? Read More »
Is Your “Flat-Fee” Legal Retainer Actually Going to Stay Flat? You are preparing to launch your company and want to keep legal costs under control. A law firm sends you a proposal for a flat fee. The number looks reasonable. You think you finally know what your pre-launch legal work will cost. Then you reach
Is Your “Flat-Fee” Legal Retainer Actually Going to Stay Flat? Read More »
