A Change for the Better? The Arguments For and Against a Venture Exchange
With a total of 284 U.S. operating company IPOs in 2014, the U.S. securities market might appear to be on an upswing – after all, this was its biggest year since the dot com era ended in 2000....
View ArticleSAFEs and KISSes Poised to Be the Next Generation of Startup Financing
Overview In late 2013, startup accelerator Y Combinator unveiled its Simple Agreement for Future Equity (“SAFE”) investment instrument as an alternative to convertible debt. While SAFE templates...
View ArticleHooli is suing Pied Piper (Episodes 9 and 10)
HBO’s “Silicon Valley” has quickly become a must watch for all budding entrepreneurs, but the second season has opened up with a multitude of real world risks and roadblocks that could be faced by real...
View ArticleHooli is suing Pied Piper (Episodes 9 and 10) continued
Last post I mused that had Richard taken certain steps in the first season of Silicon Valley, he might now have ammunition to use against Hooli’s lawsuit. What am I talking about? To very crudely recap...
View Article“‘Say it ain’t so!’” (Episode 14)
Previously we’ve discussed Hooli’s reverse engineering of Pied Piper’s technology and the threatened lawsuit for ownership of the technology. In Episode 14, Pied Piper faces a new threat: Endframe, a...
View ArticleOther Peoples’ Content (Episode 15)
There are so many legal issues in Episode 15 that it’s hard to know where to begin, so I’m going to start at the end: porn. Pied Piper is competing against nemesis Endframe for a $15 million contract...
View ArticleBoard Games (Silicon Valley, Episode 16)
Episode 16 culminates with a disastrous end to the Intersite bake-off, and highlights an issue that’s cropped up in several episodes: troublesome or under-performing board members. To recap, Pied...
View ArticleRogue Witnesses (Silicon Valley, Episode 17)
In Episode 17, Hooli’s lawsuit appears to be nearing its end – with Hooli poised as the apparent victor. In Episodes 9 and 10 the show had positioned the case so we thought Pied Piper was sure to win....
View ArticleThe Days of the Vultures (Silicon Valley – Season 2 Finale)
This season’s finale of Silicon Valley provided Richard with only the briefest moment of victory before he once again faces losing Pied Piper. First, the arbitrator rules that because Richard used a...
View ArticleBitLicense Regulations and the August 8, 2015 Deadline
The New York “BitLicense” regulations became effective on June 24, 2015, and businesses that are engaged in “Virtual Currency Business Activity” involving New York or a New York Resident must apply for...
View ArticleFar From The Madding Crowdfunding: A look at the SEC’s proposed changes to...
On October 30, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the final rules for “Regulation Crowdfunding” nearly two years after issuing its proposed rules and over three years after the...
View ArticleFAST Act Speeds-Up Raising Capital
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, or FAST Act. Although primarily a transportation bill, the FAST Act also made changes to the...
View ArticlePotential Revisions to the Definition of “Accredited Investor”
On December 18, 2015, the staff (the “Staff”) of the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) released a report on their review of the definition of “accredited investor” under the Securities...
View ArticleSuccess Is Not Always Founder Friendly (Silicon Valley – Episode 19)
HBO’s Silicon Valley is back, but Richard is still out as Pied Piper’s CEO. To recap how we got here: in the closing moments of last season, the Pied Piper team triumphed by successfully...
View ArticleJack’s Box (Silicon Valley – Episode 20)
Episode 20 of Silicon Valley explores numerous classic conflicts: consumer-oriented v. enterprise business model; engineers v. sales; revolutionary vs. safe; long-term goals v. short-term profits;...
View ArticleTrade Secrets and Lies (Silicon Valley – Episode 21)
Episode 21 is a delightful maze of plots, plot twists and omens. At Pied Piper, Richard fails in his attempt to go over CEO Action Jack’s head and have Laurie, the investor, force Jack to scrap his...
View ArticleLaurie & Monica Out-Action Jack…and Other Fiduciary Duties (Silicon Valley –...
Episode 22 provides a decisive and satisfying showdown between Jack’s Box plan and Richard’s consumer platform option. Richard’s not-so-secret skunkworks project is dead, and the team sets to work on...
View ArticleBig Head, Big Dreams, Big Mistake?
At least on paper, Episode 23 was a heartwarming story of new beginnings. Sure, Richard was subjected to an excruciating limbo during which Laurie interviewed other people for “his” job as CEO. But...
View ArticleBachmanity – From Sizzle to Fizzle and Maybe Bachruptcy (Silicon Valley –...
At its heart, Episode 24 was about relationships – from the wayward dating lives of Richard and Dinesh to Big Head and Ehrlich’s marriage of “Bachmanity,” the Pied Piper entourage found themselves...
View ArticleHappy Times, High Crimes and Misdemeanors (Silicon Valley – Episode 25)
In this week’s episode of Silicon Valley, Richard enjoyed an unprecedented run of success, culminating with the official launch of Pied Piper’s platform. Richard has suffered so many setbacks, it’s...
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