Both Sides of the Table

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How to Make Sure Professional Services Don’t Take Over Your Software Company

Both Sides of the Table

Often your sales engineers can do the customizations without bugging the core eng team. Importantly, make sure that you retain IP rights to your custom work which needs to be part of the engagement contract. At a minimum co-ownership of the IP. If not specified in contract you might find yourself with future litigation over IP.

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Remind Me Why I Love You? (Why “In Person” is Everything)

Both Sides of the Table

I then had to review a nefarious IP lawsuit filed against another company and help the CEO figure out whether we should just pay it or join forces with the other companies named and fight it. She was one of the lead engineers at Uber. It’s hard to completely grok reading it. Can I please just get 30 minutes of your time.

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What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

Your goal is to invest in engineering (to maintain your product lead), new offices / locations (to capture markets before others), marketing (to capture consumer attention before others do) … all of these activities consume cash often in advance of the revenue they generate. Think DropBox, Airbnb, Uber, Maker Studios.

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How Great, Operationally-Focused CFO’s Can Transform Your Business

Both Sides of the Table

Legal threats from other IP holders? We are growing faster than at any time in the company’s history (which is a testament to sales, market, product, engineering and of course the founder & ceo!) You really want to spend your time on that? Who is leading your patent filing program? Who is dealing with trademarks?

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Why The Media Has Been Wrong About YouTube Networks

Both Sides of the Table

We have a large engineering staff led by the insanely talented Ryan Lissack (who was my co-founder at Koral and with whom I worked for many years before persuading him to leave SF for LA.). Give access to music that is legal, avoiding lawsuits and ensuring revenue isn’t captured by other IP owners.

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What is it Like to Negotiate a VC Round?

Both Sides of the Table

If you’re a solo founder and haven’t built out your team or engineers I’m likely to want 15+%. Of course investors care about controls (board, protective provisions, IP assignments, non-solicitation) but these are all pretty standard. Those are the big three. So let’s simplify down to: Ownership %.

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Most Common Early Start-up Mistakes

Both Sides of the Table

To the best of my knowledge US law allows you to work on your own resources and in your own hours and let you personally own your IP. In some countries outside the US (the UK for example) employers can specify in an employment contract that ANY IP you develop while you’re employed by that company is owned by them.