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How do angel investors typically deal with the legal agreements and similarly how would they help deal with legal issues for a startup they’ve invested in?

All investments by angels (and everyone else) in a company are made according to detailed legal documents that specify everything about the relationship among the various parties, the terms of the value exchange and the various rights and responsibilities of everyone involved. The paperwork can range from 5-10 pages for a pretty straightforward convertible note, […]
David S. Rose
David S. Rose , Founder and CEO , GUST INC.
15 May 2014

Is it legal to solicit investors for a startup since the JOBS Act has passed?

Yes and No. The JOBS Act has several pieces, two of which are relevant here. The fascinating thing is that they allow for diametrically opposite activities! The key questions are: Who can you MARKET to? Who can you SELL to? Under the Crowdfunding provisions of the JOBS Act, a startup company will, for the first time, be […]
David S. Rose
David S. Rose , Founder and CEO , GUST INC.
20 Sep 2012

Copywrong: Brilliant, Disruptive, Illegal Business Plans

Entrepreneurs tend to focus on opportunity rather than risk, and rightly so.  As Steve Blank has written, at its core, a startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.  In the lexicon of the lean startup movement, once “product-market fit” has been achieved, the focus shifts to scale and execution as the startup […]
Antone Johnson
Antone Johnson , Founding Principal , Bottom Line Law Group
3 May 2012

When Good Legal Advice Is Worth $10 Million An Hour

One of the highest profile liquidity events to date in 2012 is Facebook’s announced deal to acquire Instagram for $1 billion.  The popular mobile photo-sharing service should fit well into Facebook’s growth strategy as a soon-to-be-public company, but its eye-popping valuation — more than that of the New York Times, for those keeping score at home — is made more extraordinary by […]
Antone Johnson
Antone Johnson , Founder and CEO , Bottom Line Law Group
12 Apr 2012

Veering Off the Beaten Path Into Murky Legal Waters

Path, a high-profile San Francisco social media startup, ignited a firestorm this week with the revelation that its mobile application uploads users’ entire iPhone address books to the company’s servers without their knowledge or permission.  The practice, discovered by Singapore developer Arun Thampi, provoked outrage within the user community and was broadly condemned by the tech business press.  Jon Mitchell at ReadWriteWeb wrote that […]
Antone Johnson
Antone Johnson , Founding Principal , Bottom Line Law Group
9 Feb 2012