Startup Bunker

Startup Legal Documents

In recent years, both Y Combinator and TechStars have released legal documents that startups could use. While recommend that you consult an attorney before entering into any agreement, you could use these documents as a starting point in your discussions.

TechStars released Model Seed Funding Documents early this year.

Today, just as I promised in the recent Venture Voice interview, we’re releasing the various legal documents that we use as a starting point for seed stage financing for our companies. We’ve now done a dozen or so of these, and we thought it would be useful to release the documents to the community. We think that they’re great model documents for an angel or seed financing in the $250k-$2M range. They represent a “light” preferred equity financing and have very simple terms that are generally “balanced” but if anything lean toward the entrepreneurs and represent a great deal of trust in them, which we think is appropriate for angel deals where you are primarily investing in the people at the early stage.

They documents were created by Cooley Godward Kronish, LLP, and we thank them and Michael Platt specifically for allowing us to release them publicly.

In August 2008, Y Combinator and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati released Series AA Equity Fiancing Documents.

While they may not be suitable for all situations, the goal was to make the terms fairly neutral. So while we would of course advise both parties using these documents to have their lawyers look at them, they provide a starting point that we hope can be used in many situations without too many modifications.

The Startup Lawyer blog gave some initial thoughts on the Y Combinator documents. Thanks also to the Startup Lawyer blog, I just discovered that Wilson Sonsini had a Term Sheet Generator.

This tool will generate a venture financing term sheet based on your responses to an online questionnaire. It also has an informational component, with basic tutorials and annotations on financing terms. This term sheet generator is a modified version of a tool that we use internally, which comprises one part of a suite of document automation tools that we use to generate start-up and venture financing-related documents.

It’s nice to see that there are legal documents for startups to use as starting points. But again I stress, you’ll want to consult your attorney because all deals are different and no doubt there will be some negotations involved. That said, enjoy the documents.

Jun. 22, 2009 | Legal | No Comments

Sources of Central Ohio Startup Funding

If you are in the Central Ohio area and wonder where to get funding for your startup, then you might want to consider attending the Sources of Central Ohio Startup Funding lunch at TechColumbus on June 25, 2009.

Sponsored by Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP.

Entrepreneurs need both capital and experienced advice to grow – this panel has both.  Learn from experts at various stages of capital, ranging from idea through market growth.  This discussion will help you align the appropriate source of funding with your current stage of business plan and product.

Panelists include:

Jun. 22, 2009 | Events, Funding | No Comments

Wireless carriers looking for non-phone gadgets to connect to its networks

This is the first of “Ideas” post to Startup Bunker. In essence, I plan on brining to your attention areas where ideas for startup businesses could flourish.

First up is the idea of non-phone gadgets that connect to a wireless carrier’s network. They are already out there, such as Amazon’s Kindle, which connects to Sprint’s network to download electronic books. But, as seen by this MSNBC article, wireless companies such as AT&T want more.

The country’s largest wireless carrier said it is looking to expand its reach into computers, digital cameras and in-car entertainment and navigation systems. A digital camera with a built-in wireless connection could e-mail pictures as soon as they’re shot, and a wireless GPS system can download traffic updates.

AT&T appointed Glenn Lurie to head the Emerging Devices initiative. He previously led the negotiations with Apple Inc. that made the iPhone exclusive to AT&T in the U.S., the company said.

So fire up your idea generating mind, and come up with the next great wireless gadget.

Oct. 21, 2008 | Ideas | No Comments

Ten Dominant Trends in Technology

Last week, Dave Berkus spoke at TechColumbus and gave the following presentation entitled Ten Trends in Technology That Will Shape How We Plan and Execute Beyond 2008.

If you are involved in a startup, it’s important to track trends and act nimbly to exploit those trends.

Oct. 4, 2008 | Slides | No Comments

Slides: Web 2.0 Startup Marketing Plan

I recently discovered the site SlideShare, where people upload and share their presentations. It is quickly becoming one my favorite sites. There is so much information on there that is useful for startups, and consequently I plan on sharing some of the ones that I find helpful.

The first set of slides is from Sean Ellis, a go to market adviser to startups. The slide deck is entitled Web 2.0 Startup Marketing Plan.

Oct. 4, 2008 | Slides | No Comments

Welcome to the bunker

Welcome to Startup Bunker. A blog about startups.

The header image is of a picture of the bunker for a startup I’m involved with called FreightChatter. The startup formed during the Startup Weekend Columbus, which I helped organized.

This blog is really a learning and communication tool for me. You see, I’ve not really been involved with startups in the past. But I’ve been blogging on various topics. Such as the270, which is a blog about Columbus, Ohio. Actually, if it weren’t for the270, I would not have had a way to communicate how cool Startup Weekend is, and that we had to have one in Columbus.

Anyways, by blogging, I hope to accelerate my learning curve about startups.

Cheers.

Jul. 27, 2008 | General | No Comments