If your startup began life as an LLC, you’re not alone. A lot of founders are told that starting as an LLC is “easier” or “cheaper.” That might be true on paper, but if you’re planning to raise venture capital (even eventually) it’s usually better to start as a C-Corporation. Here’s one reason why: converting … Read more
We are seeing more and more scams related to trademarks. They are getting increasingly sophisticated. Please, please, please do not pay for anything over the phone. The USPTO never asks for money over the phone. The website is www.uspto.gov. It is the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Some of the scams say things … Read more
We have to treat our time like a precious resource. It has to be used effectively. First, let’s look at what we are doing right now, and which of those things we shouldn’t be. Welcome to the Eisenhower Matrix or the 4 Ds. Which things are Do, Delay, Delete, or Dump? Put another way, divide … Read more
[Continuing our theme from last week.] Another lie is that we can multitask. We’ve all done it; we’ve tried to do two things at once. Reading email while on a phone call, filing documents during a webinar, direct messaging while writing a memo. We think “Look how busy I am! And I got two things … Read more
Very often we get questions from clients regarding “authorized” – “issued” – and “outstanding” shares and what the terms mean in the context of corporations and raising money. Below is a quick explanation of the terms; thanks for reading. Authorized Shares means the total (read, total ever that could be) shares a Corporation can create or “cut … Read more
I’ve gotten this question in various forms from about 10 clients in the last month – so, as it is at OGS, we write a blog post about it. This is the way. If you’re raising money from outside investors at your company, there are tons of things to think about, so please do not … Read more
Time flies when you’re having fun. In November & December 2018, I wrote a series of posts about ownership dilution in the context of startup fundraising – it seems like it was yesterday – but apparently it was more than two years ago! If you’re interested in checking out those posts, they’re available here and … Read more
We work with a lot of entrepreneurs and start-ups. Heck, at 5 years old, our firm is just getting out of the toddler stage! So, I get asked a lot about the “how.” How do you start? How do you know what to do? How do you scale? We can answer a lot of the … Read more
OK, you have gone through all of the questions that Gary set out for you, but now’s the toughest one of all: Do you have the support network at home for this? Start-ups are not for the faint of heart. You will be putting in hours of work – possibly for little or no pay … Read more
I joked last time that I was having an existential crisis about my own value by discussing how much I should pay myself when starting a business, but this week’s post kicks it into high gear as we ask: Are you the right person to start this business? Well, now, these questions are not getting … Read more