I’m a partner and chair of the firm’s New Ventures practice group and spend all of my time working with high-growth, venture capital-backed technology companies and their investors (including VC funds, angel investors, and public and private companies that make venture-style investments).
I advise company founders during their pre-startup stages, through formation and funding, to exit, paying special attention to preserving value. Along the way, I’ve worked on hundreds of venture capital investment transactions, including those led by a single Midwestern angel investor, by coastal VCs and everything in between.
When I’m not working on our clients’ investment transactions, I spend a lot of time counseling them on implementing stock option and other equity incentive plans to be sure they’re achieving the company’s compensation-related objectives in a way that doesn’t result in adverse tax consequences for their employees.
As an adviser to these nascent companies, my goal is to ensure that management’s approach to all things legal is consistent not only with their internal processes, but also with the expectations of potential investors or acquirers conducting due diligence to be sure that everything’s in order. By focusing on the ultimate objective and not getting mired in unnecessary negotiations, our team helps move companies forward on the growth curve rather than slowing things down. This forward-looking focus means we practice law differently than other firms, but juggling and delivering just-in-time is what we do best.