It’s clear why law degrees are not issued in one day: there’s a lot to learn, and mistakes are not easily forgiven.
For our law specialist day, we were thankful to have City lawyers Danvers Baillieu and Guy Morgan with us to impart as much wisdom as experience as one day would allow. Danvers works with Pinsent Masons and runs the Bootlaw meetup for tech startups in London, while Guy has worked with a number of startups during his time at Taylor Wessing.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Topics of interest grew into a massive list, and kudos to Danvers and Guy for getting through everything from employment contracts to trademarks to share allocation. Teams were particularly interested in the ins and outs of dealing with investors as well as the options for vesting and adding or subtracting founders. Some of the advice included:
- ‘Read things yourself. You’ve got eyes. You’ve got a brain.’ If you don’t understand something, Google it (and hope you land on a trustworthy page).
- On the small deals, total lawyer fees should not exceed 5% of the amount being raised. In straightforward situations, a startup and investor may share one lawyer to keep costs down.
- The legal terms you set at the beginning of a company set the precedent for the rest of your investors/deals. Get it right from the start or it will have a knock-on effect on the rest of your deal-making.
- Don’t get legal advice from Uncle Joe who once was a lawyer. ‘If you want to f#%* your company up, that’s the fastest and easiest way to do it’ ~ a good warning from Jon.
These excerpts don’t do their insights justice, but later in the day Danvers and Guy were introduced to our beloved speed mentoring. With 15 minutes apiece, teams had a chance to chat one-on-one with each of the lawyers-in-residence to get more specific advice on their individual cases. Founders mentioned they appreciated the chance to cross-reference answers from one meeting to the next, and with credit due to both parties, I didn’t hear of any conflicts – well done! Consensus seemed to be that while law issues may not be the most invigorating aspect of a startup, it was extremely helpful to get the guidance and would make them better off long-term (it was compared to eating your vegetables).
In the evening we had a visit from Josh Chandler, an entrepreneurship blogger and all-around great guy. With his attention more often on the US scene, he was excited to see Springboard in action here and had a chance to meet some of the teams over dinner. We gave Josh a very scenic tour of Cambridge, and I’m afraid Jim and Daniela learned why nobody follows me when it comes to navigation – ‘buy one get one free tours’.
I doubt anyone had an early night, as there is more happening in the background than I even realised. Teams are juggling follow-ups with the 50+ mentors they’ve met so far, as well as the resulting introductions from each, and I hear a giant spreadsheet is the only way to maintain sanity. With Microsoft paying us a visit on Day 10, I don’t think Excel is the topic of the day, but we’re looking forward to the inside scoop on development tools and startup support. Bring it on!
Jess
