Hi Justin,
Welcome back to the game. What happens to the other products in your incubator?
Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
31–40 of 102 posts
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#32Hello HN! We are excited to be building in the legal space. Raising money is a necessary step, but Atrium LTS' biggest accomplishment so far is the great team of experts we have assembled here. My cofounders are Augie Rakow (former partner at Orrick, where he worked on over 100 financings and represented Cruise through their acquisition to GM), BeBe Chueh (lawyer turned founder who sold her last company to LegalZoom)…
I am wondering - why did you decide to raise outside money at all? I assume you would have been able to do the round yourself, save time / effort around the fundraising process and concentrate on product instead?
I have often wondered the same thing when similarly successful people raise money for startups. With $X00 million in the bank, it would be better to self-finance for $10.5MM that if they truly believe in the business. However, if they believe that the probability of success is very low, I suppose it would make sense for them to use their name to get others to take the financial risk for them. For this reason, as an investor, I would shy away from stratospherically wealthy entrepreneurs looking for money, but SV VC's seem quite willing to give money to people that don't need it.
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am wondering - why did you decide to raise outside money at all? I assume you would have been able to do the round yourself, save time / effort around the fundraising process and concentrate on product instead?
I have often wondered the same thing when similarly successful people raise money for startups. With $X00 million in the bank, it would be better to self-finance for $10.5MM that if they truly believe in the business . However, if they believe that the probability of success is very low, I suppose it would make sense for them to use their name to get others to take the financial risk for them. For this reason, as an…
This assumes you believe that investors can't help you succeed in your business. I believe our investors can help us a lot.
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#34Most startups are pitched with a problem statement: our users want X, and here's how we're going to give it to them. This article talks about how lawyers don't do X and how Justin thinks they should — but not necessarily that they want to. As someone who spent 7 years working in biglaw, I can attest that there are many technology-related things that would make lawyers more efficient. For example, the large law firm I…
This article is written for a particular audience. The people selling it to law firms are going to pitch efficiency.
Yes, but the audience it's written for generally cares about questions like "what is the pain point you are solving for your customer?" That is one of the first questions a funder asks — and given how many funders they have lined up, presumably there is an answer.
As for pitching law firms on efficiency, that's actually an uphill battle in many ways. Lawyers bill by the hour, which means that there is not a natural demand for tools that increase efficiency. Post-recession, there is an increasing amount of fixed-fee work, which helps on this front. But the bread-and-butter for many firms (especially prestigious ones, who don't have to accommodate fixed-fee arrangements) is hourly work.
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have often wondered the same thing when similarly successful people raise money for startups. With $X00 million in the bank, it would be better to self-finance for $10.5MM that if they truly believe in the business . However, if they believe that the probability of success is very low, I suppose it would make sense for them to use their name to get others to take the financial risk for them. For this reason, as an…
This assumes you believe that investors can't help you succeed in your business. I believe our investors can help us a lot.
Fair enough. I was speaking generally. In the case of this specific venture, you may very well turn out to be correct.
Good luck with your new business!
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#36Hello HN! We are excited to be building in the legal space. Raising money is a necessary step, but Atrium LTS' biggest accomplishment so far is the great team of experts we have assembled here. My cofounders are Augie Rakow (former partner at Orrick, where he worked on over 100 financings and represented Cruise through their acquisition to GM), BeBe Chueh (lawyer turned founder who sold her last company to LegalZoom)…
Hi Justin, I think I'm probably within your core demographics. I read everything on the aforementioned site and I'm still unsure as to what you guys are building. Can you provide us with a bit of a snapshot? I'd love to be excited given that I'm a fan and I work in the field you're entering, but so far I'm just very confused.
I don't think the point of the site is to sell the product.
It's to build awareness and recruit great people. They talk about the problem they're solving, their legit team, and list the positions they're hiring for. All wrapped in a clean design.
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#37Hello HN! We are excited to be building in the legal space. Raising money is a necessary step, but Atrium LTS' biggest accomplishment so far is the great team of experts we have assembled here. My cofounders are Augie Rakow (former partner at Orrick, where he worked on over 100 financings and represented Cruise through their acquisition to GM), BeBe Chueh (lawyer turned founder who sold her last company to LegalZoom)…
Hi Justin, I think I'm probably within your core demographics. I read everything on the aforementioned site and I'm still unsure as to what you guys are building. Can you provide us with a bit of a snapshot? I'd love to be excited given that I'm a fan and I work in the field you're entering, but so far I'm just very confused.
> I read everything
And the truth is you shouldn't have even had to 'read everything'.
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have often wondered the same thing when similarly successful people raise money for startups. With $X00 million in the bank, it would be better to self-finance for $10.5MM that if they truly believe in the business . However, if they believe that the probability of success is very low, I suppose it would make sense for them to use their name to get others to take the financial risk for them. For this reason, as an…
This assumes you believe that investors can't help you succeed in your business. I believe our investors can help us a lot.
What I say is: 'I'd rather have your connections than your money'.
As someone who helps investors with some of their investments that is often a missed point. Reviewing your list of investors I've worked with several of them. Knowing exactly who to call to get an answer, advice, or help can be just as important or actually more important than money. Obviously.
I remember when an investor approached me many many years ago to buy something that I was selling that the firm wanted. I remember thinking 'I'd rather have access to your connections than your money'.
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#39I built a legal app years ago. One problem I had getting investors is that the legal market is so small. Microsoft dropped it as a vertical years ago. Corporate law is even a smaller segment of the legal industry. VC law is an even smaller segment of corporate law. How big is the market for this product? Edit: I see from their website they claim it is a "$96 billion industry". There are only 1.3 million active lawyer…
If each of the lawyers makes 100k per year you already have a $100 billion industry.
Re: Justin Kan Raises $10M for New Legal Startup
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
This assumes you believe that investors can't help you succeed in your business. I believe our investors can help us a lot.
Fair enough. I was speaking generally. In the case of this specific venture, you may very well turn out to be correct. Good luck with your new business!
Thank you!
To expand on my point further: the same logic could be used to say entrepreneurs with the means to do so should only pay employees in cash and not equity (because you can afford to do so and believe the equity will have higher economic value ultimately). However, pretty much all seasoned founders I know want to compensate employees with some equity, under the theory that those employees will be more motivated to see the business be successful.
I think the same logic applies to your investor base (which is one of the selling points that crowd funding sources like Angel List or Funders Club maintain).