6/25/2011

So You Want to Start a Business?

This Guide to Starting a Corporation from Fenwick & West offers a good overview of the process.

6/20/2011

Startup Employment Agreement

This Startup Employment Agreement from Inc.com is used by startup companies to establish terms and conditions of their workers' employment. The agreement outlines compensation, benefits, policies, and rights for the employee and employer and is customizable for your company’s usage.

6/17/2011

Leaders as Problem Finders

"Practicing problem-finding helps leaders spot and address emerging concerns while they are still manageable and before they turn into disasters...[Use]these seven steps...

1.Circumvent the gatekeepers – get unfiltered information.
2.Become an ethnographer...
3.Hunt for patterns – try to draw on past experiences but don’t get caught in the trap of misusing analogies.
4.Use intuition to “connect the dots”...
5.Encourage innovative thinking...
6....Adopt the military’s 'After Action Review'(AAR) process to learn and improve;
7.Create a climate of information-sharing – encourage people to speak up and have a mindset of 'openness.'"

Read more in this post from NACD Blog.

6/11/2011

Top Ten Startup Legal Mistakes

# 10: Failing to incorporate early enough.

# 9: Issuing founder shares without vesting.

#8: Hiring a lawyer not experienced in dealing with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

#7: Failing to make a timely Section 83 (b) election.

# 6: Negotiating venture capital financing based solely on the valuation.

#5: Waiting to consider international intellectual property protection.

#4: Disclosing inventions without a nondisclosure agreement, or before the patent application is filed.

#3: Starting a business while employed by a potential competitor, or hiring employees without first checking their agreements with the current employer and their knowledge of trade secrets.

#2: ...failing to comply with state and federal securities laws.

#1: Thinking any legal problems can be solved later.

Read more in this HBS Working Knowledge article