Five-minute general counsel: What’s in a seed round termsheet?

By Rick Colosimo / February 1, 2011 / Comments Off on Five-minute general counsel: What’s in a seed round termsheet?

Here’s a common set of angel-investor questions regarding a standard seed round term sheet for a tech company: Why are the shares divided into preferred and common? Why does the preferred stock have a limited “1x” return? What will happen with liquidation preferences in future rounds? What will happen with dividends? Does the preferred stock…

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Five-minute general counsel: how to structure a board meeting

By Rick Colosimo / November 22, 2010 / Comments Off on Five-minute general counsel: how to structure a board meeting

Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures wrote about his board meeting and ugly travel schedule some time ago. It’s refreshing to hear him talk about being excited to go to board meetings. I’ve sat in too many where a VC (even a monster big-name guy) ended up talking about the format of financials being presented…

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Draft better contracts by paying attention to words

By Rick Colosimo / October 12, 2010 / Comments Off on Draft better contracts by paying attention to words

This post on the use of the term immediately, one of many similar explorations by Ken Adams, is the sort of thing that attracts me to contract drafting. There is a lot to be said for using the right language to convey an idea: language that is clear, concise, hard to misconstrue, and simple without…

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Five-minute general counsel: What is due diligence?

By Rick Colosimo / August 9, 2010 / Comments Off on Five-minute general counsel: What is due diligence?

Due diligence is the catchall phrase used to describe both the amorphous investigative process that prospective investors and acquirors go through before, during, and after their initial decision to proceed with a transaction with your company as well as the materials (paper, electronic, and Q&A) that they and their advisors receive in response to their…

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