Silicon Valley is experiencing a “war for talent,” even as the nation struggles with unemployment. The Bay Area has not been unaffected by unemployment, but with the number of high technology startups based in cities such as Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Jose, and Santa Clara, companies are finding themselves…
Most letters of intent describing acquisitions in Silicon Valley, as elsewhere, will describe the material points of a transaction. Although a properly drafted letter of intent will provide that the business points of the deal are nonbinding, it is difficult in the course of any negotiation to change a business…
I was talking to a client in Cupertino this week about helping his friend with a start-up business in San Jose. Originally, my client wanted to form a corporation online by himself, but he was not sure if the company should be an S corporation (“S-corp”) or a C corporation…
Any Silicon Valley mergers and acquisitions lawyer helping clients buy and sell high technology companies is invariably provided with a simple letter of intent, happily signed by a couple of companies without input from their tax and legal advisors, and asked to prepare binding documents. In one case, my San…
Bridge financing for Silicon Valley start-up companies is a fairly standard, relatively inexpensive method to raising money pending a larger investment round. This type of financing is typically provided in the form of debt that converts into shares issued in the next funding round, often at a discount from the…
Technology start-up companies in Silicon Valley exist in a highly dynamic environment, where survival can be crushed by competition from a kid in a garage or a fund partner refusing further investment. As a last gasp, some companies may try to be acquired. Companies which have had to take refuge…
In Parts I and II of this Article I talked about how important a complete and properly formed business entity is for estate planning and liability protection. There are also many other potential impacts of not having your corporation or LLC documentation in order. Here are just a few: IRS…
Filing your Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State is only the first step in creating your corporation or LLC. Unfortunately, most online business formation services take your money and don’t do much more than that for you. And many do-it-yourselfers don’t perform the required…
I recently met with a new client from San Jose whose father was dying. My client’s father owned a small business and was a director and officer of that company. There were two immediate issues for us to deal with. First, the corporate minute book was a mess and we…
Finding a buyer for the sale of a business is a lot like dating. Your prospects and your ultimate happiness increases with the number of people you meet. Whether you cruise the bars in San Jose, or schmooze partners at a trade show in San Francisco, building interest in your…