Startup Law and Fundraising for Entrepreneurs

With Paul Swegle, general counsel to a variety of tech companies and advisor to a dozen others as outside counsel. To date, he has served as general counsel to thirteen companies and has completed $12+ billion of financings and M&A deals, including growing and selling startups to public companies ING, Capital One, Nortek, and Abbott. Join us for this fabulous conversation with Paul Swegle about startup law and fundraising for entrepreneurs. Paul covers important issues to consider when planning for fundraising, including how and when to bootstrap, vs. getting outside funding. We talk about lifestyle companies vs. traditional startups, and what it takes to build a solid foundation regardless of your business. We also discuss what entrepreneurs often get wrong in the early stages of business, including how entrepreneurs create accidental partnerships and general partnerships, which can put their business, ideas, and intellectual property at risk. We discuss the absolute importance of documentation, choosing the right entity at the start, the importance of creating a legal budget as part of your business planning, and so much more! Paul's first book, "Contract Drafting and Negotiation for Entrepreneurs and Business Professionals," shares what he's learned working on thousands of agreements across varied industries for over 20 years. It's all about avoiding common contract pitfalls and maximizing commercial relationships. It's also a frequent Amazon bestseller in business law. Law schools and business programs across the country use it, as do law firms and in-house law, procurement, and sales departments. Paul's second book, "Startup Law and Fundraising for Entrepreneurs and Startup Advisors," was published on July 23, 2020, and is about helping entrepreneurs do three things: - build their companies on a solid foundation, - avoid costly and distracting legal and regulatory mistakes, and - raise the money they need to succeed. Anyone interested in startups and small businesses will find Startup Law and Fundraising invaluable. But it is also designed to provide a turnkey entrepreneurial law and finance class at any level, including law school, MBA, undergraduate business, community college, or startup accelerator. Paul's third book, "Careers in the Law," will be published in late 2021. It profiles more than 200 areas of law, plus many non-law alternatives for law degree holders. As a busy practicing attorney and leader in the legal profession, Paul interacts daily with attorneys across many different areas of the law. He has mentored and advised hundreds of law students and attorneys. At all times, his several companies have engagements in place with 20+ law firms across the country and globally. As a bar leader, Paul has a front-row perspective on the impacts of technology and other forces on the legal profession. Careers in the law will be a uniquely rich, insightful, and timely look at law careers and non-law career alternatives, with insights from hundreds of attorneys. Paul is also an adjunct law professor and teaches entrepreneurial law and finance at Seattle University School of Law. He was a lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice early in his career. Learn more by visiting the show notes at www.legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast