Guidance
Our knowledge, distilled.
Every step of the way, startups have a lot to think about. We help ease that burden by considering all the angles and providing clients with clear, forward-looking advice. We know just how quickly the startup landscape can change, so we proactively outline emerging issues and provide actionable recommendations for managing the challenges and opportunities those developments present.
Articles
Getting Founder Equity Right: Key Issues Every UK Startup Should Consider Early
The most successful startups recognize early on that tax considerations should form part of the founder equity conversation from the outset. The decisions founders make when the business has no value are often the same decisions that resurface years later when it does.
Beyond the Flip: Data Protection Considerations for U.S. Expansion
When considering a U.S. flip, data protection issues may not always be the top of a company’s list of concerns, but differences between U.S. data protection laws and those found in the UK and EU do create potential, material pitfalls for those looking to transfer personal data across the Atlantic and/or collect data in the United States.
Who Owns the Innovation? IP Strategy in a Transatlantic Company
For many emerging companies, the intellectual property (IP) protecting that innovation is the crown jewel. If the corporate and IP structures drift apart, the result can affect valuation, delay a financing, or leave the investor-backed company dependent on rights it does not securely control. However, moving IP between jurisdictions can often result in other issues, such as tax falling due. So what do founders need to be aware of?
Built for Delaware: What U.S. Venture Capital Investors Really Expect from Your Company Structure
For non-U.S. founders looking to raise capital from U.S. venture funds, one piece of advice comes up repeatedly: If you want U.S. venture capital, be prepared to restructure as a Delaware C corporation. The preference for Delaware is real, but it is not simply because venture capitalists or their lawyers like Delaware.
Sellers Beware: Buyers Are Asking Founders to Pay Legal Bills for Unproven R&W Claims
In private M&A deals, buyers are increasingly asking sellers to cover legal defense costs for post-closing claims even when the claim has not been proven or no representation or warranty (R&W) has actually been breached. This is a meaningful shift in risk, and one that sellers may be blindsided by based on an intuitive sense of how R&Ws should work.