Hi My Name is Start-Up and I...

...paid to pitch to a group of Angel Investors.

The start-up community, including one particularly vocal individual has of late taken up arms against a practice considered insidious: pay to pitch seminars. While the linked seminar was apparently canceled, quite rightly, by Microsoft, the continuing existence of such events does raise an interesting question for the entrepreneur: how can I get my money back?

As a lawyer, I have an answer for that.

Why the HeL.L.C. Would I Start a Limited Liability Company

Most people will tell you that, if you're going to incorporate a business, you should start a C corporation, which for the unitiated, is a type of business entity owned by shareholders which is taxed independently from its shareholders. It can be hard to get funding for any other entity... You can see here that the National Venture Capital Association's model documents are based on the C corporation form of entity. Note - if you try and use these documents without a lawyer, and screw up your company contact me for help with the insuing litigation.

So if the NCVA prefers a C corporation, why would you want to be a Limited Liability Company (LLC)?  ...I'll explain after the jump.

Greenhorn Connect

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Tools of the Trade Secret

Shh. My business is in stealth mode! ...what are we doing? er, well, ok, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else, okay?

The foregoing was a great example of how to lose trade secret protection status for your business. More on how to avoid doing it after the jump.

Explain What You Are Doing!

I recently attended Open Coffee over at the Andala Cafe. A lot of cool people were there who had, by and large, really cool ideas.

However, many of the websites for the ideas had no clear content describing what they do, or why they are worth using, despite the fact that there are clear reasons to use the websites.

First Post

If you are reading this post, you are probably one of the first lucky readers of Generally Counselling. I could repeat here what I wrote on the "about" page, but that would be boring.

How about a little bit more about why I want to work with start-ups...

...a part of my practice is devoted to litigation, and that part of it is occasionally depressing. Indeed, much of the practice of law is depressing: divorce, bankruptcy, personal injury. Even sexy areas, like high stakes patent litigation are often depressing: you lose, and the company says bye bye.

Estates and trusts? All day every day is spent in the contemplation of death.  Not your death, however, some other person's death. Imagine looking across from some new person every day, screwing up your face and thinking, what would be the best thing that could happen in the event of this person's death? Not exactly a joyful experience.

Working with emerging businesses, however, means working with passionate people who are actually trying to build something. Your job becomes helping people achieve great things with their ideas. Well, let me rephrase that. Your job becomes helping people achieve great things with their ideas... ...and keeping them out of trouble.

I'm excited. On the whole, I think I have the right product for start-ups: affordable, flexible representation. But I'll talk more about that in the future.

Until then!