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Thank you for posting this. Is there a way I can view the Justin.Tv stream again? Youtube? Also, do angel investors ever go looking for deals, or is this a sign of a bad angel investor?
It all gets archived:
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If $24k for IP is bad advice, what do you think the right number would have been?
Yokum (one of the absolute best out there) quotes $5K as a barebones starter package. I'm sure he'd have helped us avoid overbuilding on the IP in addition to the overbuilding on the corporate stuff. http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/faqs/ I refuse to believe you could get half as good as Yokum for twice the price.
Having said that, I guess I was weaseling my way around to the point that a boilerplate IP agreement would cost next to nothing, and would probably be all you'd ever need. People obsess too much about IP, and not enough about their own execution risk.
> Angels are the limiting reagent in startup formation.
I'd like to claim that I would have started startups even if YC didn't accept Xobni for the summer of 2006 class. I had already failed at a half-startup. I was doing consulting for another startup called Siteadvisor. Etc.
Yet YC was the catalyst for dropping out of grad school.
Paul certainly gets a unique view into startup creation. I just wonder what the second and third order terms are of this equation.
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Yokum (one of the absolute best out there) quotes $5K as a barebones starter package. I'm sure he'd have helped us avoid overbuilding on the IP in addition to the overbuilding on the corporate stuff. http://www.startupcompanylawyer.com/faqs/ I refuse to believe you could get half as good as Yokum for twice the price.
He wouldn't remember it, but Yokum spent a good chunk of time on the phone with me and my cofounders when we started Matasano, as a favor for a mutual friend. I totally agree with you. Having said that, I guess I was weaseling my way around to the point that a boilerplate IP agreement would cost next to nothing, and would probably be all you'd ever need. People obsess too much about IP, and not enough about their own…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He wouldn't remember it, but Yokum spent a good chunk of time on the phone with me and my cofounders when we started Matasano, as a favor for a mutual friend. I totally agree with you. Having said that, I guess I was weaseling my way around to the point that a boilerplate IP agreement would cost next to nothing, and would probably be all you'd ever need. People obsess too much about IP, and not enough about their own…
(I know it's uncool to say here, but we're applying for a patent on our transaction engine. Even in the patent process, we probably could have saved some cash.)
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(I know it's uncool to say here, but we're applying for a patent on our transaction engine. Even in the patent process, we probably could have saved some cash.)
Uncool isn't the word I'd use. I've got patent applications from 7+ years ago, with reputable IP lawyers working for going concerns, that are still "pending". My snipe at you might be "pointlessness". ;)
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Uncool isn't the word I'd use. I've got patent applications from 7+ years ago, with reputable IP lawyers working for going concerns, that are still "pending". My snipe at you might be "pointlessness". ;)
(but I can see why you spent so much money on IP now; patents are expensive).
It is what it is at this point - so much money sunk into it that I want to finish it off.
I recommend founders read this too. It would be useful to them to imagine how things look from the investors' side. I'm surprised more didn't take advantage of the Justin.tv stream to spy on the investors at AngelConf. They were pretty candid about how they think.
I was looking through the legal documents just to get a sense of what technically happens when a corporation issues a new type of stock. Thanks for sharing these documents. Not sure if this is relevant, but http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa/aa-boardconsent.doc has a typo... there is no section 1.iii .. it skips to 1.iiii and then 1.iv.
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(but I can see why you spent so much money on IP now; patents are expensive).
Chicago investors kept telling me they would only invest in a company with "protectable IP." Coming from a healthcare VC background, I didn't question it. That was a mistake. It is what it is at this point - so much money sunk into it that I want to finish it off.
Best of luck with the project.