Last year was a busy legislative year in California. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in particular spawned a host of new employment laws that took effect on January 1st. If you haven’t done so already, you should review your employee handbook and personnel policies to make sure that you are in compliance with these new laws. SB… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Startups & Entrepreneurs
What Makes a Company “Culture”?
In the current job market, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, good employees are more valuable now than perhaps ever. Almost every one of my clients is looking to hire, and almost every one looking is complaining that that they “can’t find anyone good.” It’s a seller’s market, and recruits are asking potential new employers hard… Read More
Common Legal Mistakes Made by Startups
Inc.com published an article today entitled, “The Dumbest Legal Mistakes Early Startups Make.” The article, written by Alumnify CEO A.J. Agrawal, asserts that the “dumbest” legal mistakes made by startups include: 1. Not having written LLC operating agreements 2. Choosing the wrong corporate entity 3. Failing to keep proper records 4. Using someone else’s legally protected… Read More
Q3 2015 Halo Report Shows Jump in Angel Investing
The Angel Resource Institute and PitchBook just released their Q3 2015 Halo Report. The report shows that angel investment for the quarter has increased dramatically, with the median round size ($725K) up 45% from Q2 2015 levels ($500K). Other notable findings include: 1. Software, commercial services, and healthcare deals constituted over 64% of all deals… Read More
SEC Adopts Rules to Allow Crowdfunding
Last Friday, the SEC adopted final rules to allow companies to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding. These new rules are designed to give smaller companies access to additional investment options and, in addition, to provide investors with additional protections. As I discussed in a prior blog post here, crowdfunding is a method of raising… Read More
Startups Prefer Employees Over Independent Contractors?
We’ve all heard the stories about how startups tend to prefer to classify their workers as “independent contractors” rather than “employees.” Uber is a current and classic example of this legally risky phenomenon. But, according to today’s Business Insider, startups are apparently now second-guessing this strategy. There’s a budding new trend among startups now to classify… Read More
Q2 2014 Halo Report Shows Decline in Angel Investing
Silicon Valley Bank, the Angel Resource Institute, and CB Insights just released their Q4 2014 Halo Report. The report shows that angel investment for the quarter has decreased, with the median round size ($600K) down 39% from Q1 2014 levels ($990K). Other notable findings include: — Internet, healthcare, mobile, and telecom deals constituted almost 70%… Read More
Q1 2014 “Halo Report” Shows California Leading in Total Angel Deals
Silicon Valley Bank, the Angel Resource Institute, and CB Insights just released their Q4 2014 “Halo Report.” The report generally confirms that angel investment is increasing, with the median round size ($980K) up 31% from Q4 2013 levels ($750K). Other notable findings include: — Internet, healthcare, mobile, and telecom deals constituted almost 72% of all… Read More
Banks Making More Small Business Loans
A recent New York Times article points to signs that the lending environment is improving for small business. According to Keri Gohman, an Executive Vice President and head of small business banking for Capital One who is quoted in the article, “It’s actually a really great time to access small business capital.” The article notes… Read More
Wall St. Invading the P2P Lending Space?
Peer-to-peer (“P2P”) lending started about a decade ago to allow individuals and other small investors to lend money to each other over the internet. By going P2P, banks were cut out of the process, resulting usually in lower interest rates and more funds available for the small businesses looking for cash. In return, individual investors… Read More
