Generative Counsel

Love the new logo. Thanks a million Ahmed Nawaz ! ?? ??

Justice doesn’t live on paper. Nothing besides fiction does. Juneteenth is a terribly important holiday. I’ve been educating myself about it as an adult since it wasn’t taught as a part of the curriculum when I was in school. __________________ Did you know... * this holiday honors June 19, 1865 – the day that Gordon Granger (Union General) arrived in Galveston, TX to announce the end of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. In other words, American slavery ended “on paper” 2 years before slaves in TX were *actually* free * TX made Juneteenth a state holiday in ~1980, but the US only recognized it as a federal holiday 40+ years later * communities all across the US have been celebrating this day for 150+ years * today in America, the median white family has over 8x the wealth of the median black family * today in America, black Americans are incarcerated at over 5x the rate of white Americans * today in America, the average life expectancy of black Americans is 4 years lower than the average for white Americans __________________ What this tells us is... * written laws don’t matter if, in practice, our rights are not respected, cherished and protected * equality is a meaningless virtue if we don’t continually fight to eliminate the vestiges of slavery (and all forms of discrimination) * people – not “paper” alone – are the agents of meaningful change __________________ Some practical illustrations of the limitations of our words… * an employment contract isn’t worth anything if there are no means of enforcement * a commercial contract is mere comedy if your vendor does not perform, takes the money and runs * a marriage contract is futile if there’s no fidelity in your relationship __________________ Many of us think, write and talk for a living. Today reminds us that words and ideas – even when paired with deep, faithful beliefs – are only half the job. Change happens *after* we form our beliefs and ideas. After we speak. Law… agreements… new ideas… new perspectives… they are all necessary pre-conditions to our evolution. The other 50% (arguably the more important piece) is some mixture of action, investment, innovation, collaboration and sacrifice. Happy Juneteenth, everyone! ?? ??

All startup founders I know have at least one thing in common - they hate spending on legal. I get it. Who likes waking up to a +$20,000 bill in their inbox? ?? Still - your company, your employees, and investors all need to be protected... and the best way to do that is by working with great lawyers, putting things in writing in their proper format (ie, via contracts) and planning for issues before they arise. Startups have unique legal needs that compound over time. Legal risk never goes away as long as you're operating - there's simply more to manage as things progress, like your codebase or a snowball. I put together some some slides for founders to better understand how they can work with legal // manage their costs. TL;DS: My advice is - (1) find an alternative to exorbitant billing rates; (2) hire a fractional general counsel; and (3) train yourself to become a better manager (of lawyers!) As a summary of the points above - (1) you should know that you don't need to pay $700+ an hour for quality startup legal advice... nor do you need to settle for a temporary discount or deferred fees... there are startup lawyers that will work on retainer, for capped fees on a project-basis (ie, not hourly)... many accept some equity as payment.... there are maybe 5 firms in the industry whose names carry weight with investors... the rest are not startup law firms and their "reputation" will not deliver better outcomes for you (2) a fractional general counsel can do most of your early-stage legal work "in-house" on a part-time basis... they can also help you determine which legal specialists to work with and when to make those calls... they can spot issues ahead of time and - because they bill differently and will not charge you $100 per minute - you can seed them over time with context which will make them better at their jobs... many people ask their friends to provide free legal advice here, and that's probably fine for a bit, but humans work better when incentives are aligned, which is why I recommend you hire a professional (3) no matter what, as an executive, you're going to need to work w/ lawyers to be successful... not just during your equity financings or for the "big stuff," but in your day-to-day work as well... you can get more done, faster, if you think through what you need ahead of time and express that to your attorney (try writing notes to legal as you would write product specifications), cap the amount of time spent on certain tasks and provide clarity upfront If you want to work w/ a fractional general counsel for your startup or have questions about startup legal issues more broadly, feel free to DM me or send me a note at evan@generativecounsel ! ??

Really enjoyed this article from First Round Capital, Irene Liu and Hypergrowth GC! It's great to see leaders in the VC community educating founders on how to work w/ attorneys. A quick summary of the takeaways for early-stage startup founders: ? Legal advice should be user-friendly. ?? “Contrary to popular belief, lawyers?can?and?should?be able to have a conversation with you about your business in plain English ... If you are leaving the initial call feeling confused or misunderstood, that’s not on you. That’s a red flag that this lawyer and firm isn’t going to communicate with you in the way you need. If that’s the case, then walk away and find another firm that can communicate clearly with you." ? Your attorney should understand your business, product and vision. ?? “A good business lawyer should be taking the time to listen to deeply understand you and your business — which means asking you questions ... "If they are rushing you off the phone, or even worse — refusing to hop on a call at all, nix them.” ? It's your job, as a founder, to take control of the relationship. ?? You can manage legal costs and get clearer, faster advice by: (i) being clear about the deliverables you expect (ie, "never ask for written memos"); (ii) setting budgets on time spent on a task (ie, "please let us know your progress and pause on further work once you've billed 5 hours); and (iii) sending your lawyer context ahead of time before asking abstract questions that may cause confusion. A savvy attorney will pre-empt these issues, aligning on deliverables up-front, clarifying timelines and asking for context at every step. Feel free to tag someone who could benefit from reading this article below. ?? (Relevant links in comments)

Must-read for early-stage startup founders (link in comments). Thx NFX. Two important caveats to the content in this article: ? There is no such thing as a "top percentile person." ?? While it is often true that "if you didn’t get funded, it probably is because you were not the highest quality team the VC saw in that space with a similar idea," it's not because of your quality as a person, but rather your domain expertise, experience, perceived skills or storytelling (also, VC's might control access to some of the capital in the world but they are fallible like all humans; maybe they're wrong about your quality as a founder). I would argue that a good startup founder is someone with deep domain expertise in their problem area, demonstrates high degrees of creativity, open-minded visionary (not to be confused w/ delusional), is resilient & a risk-taker. None of these things has to do with your "quality as a person" or your inherent value in the economy or otherwise. People are not born "top percentile humans"; people develop skills, over time, through work. If you want to become more appealing to investors, you might just need more domain expertise. So, even if you quit your startup / can't obtain substantial funding to scale, if you still want to do this entrepreneurship thing long-term: invest your time into gaining more experience, domain expertise & associating with people and companies that enhance your reputation. ? The best investors & entrepreneurs don't care about being admired, loved or obtaining status through their work. ?? While it's true that "?all humans . . . want status[,] love, respect [and admiration]," and that "in VC, you do that by investing in the biggest, most successful companies," who says your self-worth has to come from your job? Last I checked, some of the most successful tech entrepreneurs of this generation - Musk, Altman, Thiel, Zuckerberg, Bezos... none of these people are or ever have been universally loved & admired at work. They are just effective. We may disagree with their missions, their approach to company-building, their treatment of employees or public image/statements, but that's why litigation/courts exist. The court of public opinion is often wrong. If you're starting a company or fund to be loved, admired, respected or for status, you will be beaten by someone who doesn't care at all about these things & generates their self-worth outside of work. Otherwise, loved the article Omri Amirav-Drory! Thanks for sharing. ??

As a fractional GC, I frequently hire attorneys to service my clients (think: patent, trademark, commercial, etc.). It’s a competitive field: there are many competent attorneys in the US in most every subject-matter & jurisdiction. So how do I choose who to hire on a case-by-case basis? ?? Here are the top qualities I look for when hiring attorneys: 1. Elite Communication & Comprehension. ?? I love that you know the law. Can you also explain it as elegantly as possible? Your job as a transactional attorney is, in part, to translate legalese to plain English. If you cannot communicate the law, you have failed. Understanding the law is step 1, understanding the facts/issues is step 2, applying facts to law & communicating this to a lay audience is step 3. Humor and humanity are welcome. 2. Honesty & Transparency. ? Candor is everything in a team environment. Do you want to work w/ someone who is uncomfortable - for any reason - telling you the truth? Your willingness to tell the client when they are at risk or are focusing on the wrong thing is huge. This transparency extends to many topics (incl. fees, your availability & expertise). It’s OK to not be an expert at everything – let the client know so they can plan accordingly. 3. Tenacity & Demeanor. ?? IMO the best attorneys resemble bulldogs. Ideally, you act like a prosecutor representing the federal government. This means being relentless, tenacious & aggressive in your approach. To be clear, you don’t need to abuse yourself to provide great service; it’s more than OK to set boundaries. Please note, though: one of the main advantages in business is velocity (i.e., your rate of speed over time). The more willingness you have to run on all four legs, the faster your entrepreneurs can run. The faster your entrepreneurs can run, the better their chances of success. 4. Business Savvy. ?? Academia is awesome; I loved law school. But now we’re in the real world. Simply put, business-minded attorneys are more effective than pure academics. For entrepreneurs, the law is practical (not academic). Being a practical lawyer means flagging issues in advance so clients can “see the future” (i.e., can plan ahead & adapt commercial terms to lessen their legal burden). This includes being flexible on pricing. 5. Attention to Detail. ?? Thorough. Proactive. Organized. Diligent. Are you all of these things on the right issues & at the right times? Attention to detail engenders trust; sloppiness & improperly applied focus engenders doubt. For the record, I’m not interested in hiring folks just because they are my friends. Nor am I merely interested in cash incentives. I am in this game for the long-term so providing value is the objective. My goal as a GC is to connect you with the most valuable legal resources to solve problems for your business. If you’d like to talk about how to evaluate attorneys-for-hire (whether as an entrepreneur or as a GC), hit me up! Dm’s open ??

"Legal documents? We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Except when you get there, that bridge may already be crumbling. In this super insightful and fun-spirited piece, Evan Buhler packs in years of legal expertise on managing a startup's legal documents – and why founders should take ownership of this. The lowdown? Your legal documents are the source of truth of your company's rights and obligations. Keep this house in order, and you'll make transacting, raising, and exiting that much easier and faster. This doesn't mean you should do this all by yourself, however. Use designated software purpose-built to help founder with their startup's legal documents, and work with competent corporate counsel to help guide the way. Read the post on Corpora's blog, and share it with a friend that needs to see this: https://lnkd.in/dr4J6ayi #Founders, what's your strategy for managing legal documents? If you have any good tips or insights, please share them below. *** Evan Buhler is a startup attorney at Generative Counsel, a fractional general counsel studio he launched in 2023. He graduated summa cum laude from UC Irvine Law in 2019. Afterwards, he worked in Silicon Valley and San Francisco for two major firms (Sidley Austin LLP and Fenwick & West) as a corporate attorney, focusing mostly on venture capital related transactions. He spends his time in the US between Boston and California, loves his nieces and nephew, is a runner, dancer and patron of the arts. #legal #startups #founders #vc #ai #preseed #seed

Zooming out. It’s so important, yet how often do we make time to step back from our work and lives, and attempt to view our situations objectively, with gratitude? I’ve been taking time at the beginning of 2024 to “zoom out” and reflect on where I’m at, where I came from and where I’m going next in my career. Right now, I’m a startup attorney. And I run my own practice. Today, it feels natural to say this. It wasn’t always that way! In fact, I didn’t dream of going to law school. So, why did I attend? Familial pressure, scholarships and the beach. Things lined up, I had the means and I was curious about the law, so I sent it. I didn’t want to start my own legal practice. I wanted to be a tech entrepreneur. Why? I was confident that working in high-tech would be the best way to make a positive impact on society in the 21st century. I tried it and it didn’t quite work. I didn't necessarily choose this path, but friends shined a light on certain possibilities, doors opened for me and I walked through them. Despite all that, here's why I’m loving what I’m doing right now, even though I didn’t quite seek it out (see comments for more detail ?? ):