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ENT101: Startup Law 101: Legal Launchpad (Arshia Tabrizi)

Posted: - Modified: | sketchnotes

Click on the image for a larger version of sketchnotes. This talk is part of the free MaRS Entrepreneurship 101 series (webcast and in-person session every Wednesday!)

Feel free to share this! You can credit it as (c) 2012 Sacha Chua under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada licence.

Arshia Tabrizi: Startup Law 101: Legal Launchpad – corporate organization, intellectual property, contracts

20121010 ent101 Startup Law 101 - Arshia Tabrizi

Check out my other ENT101 sketchnotes, or other sketchnotes and visual book notes!

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MARS ENTREPRENEURSHIP 101
STARTUP LAW 101: LEGAL LAUNCHPAD
ARSHIA TABRIZI @ arshia_tabrizi
Partnership Tips –> MaRS Video
Is this the right person to be partners with?
– values
– timelines
– goals
– roles
– compensation
– exit strategy
Written
agreement
Roles & responsibilities
Ownership
– different
– Employment
needed skilset may change
Okay
Need something else
EXIT
Build in an exit strategy
in case of death, disability, major disagreement
Corporate Organization
$750 (basic) -$1,500 (full)
articles of incorporation
– imited liability –> Separate legal entity
– tax advantages
– IP centralization –> bringing other people’s ideas together
– venture capital / acquisition
When do you incorporate?
DEFINITELY
Employees/ consultants
Contracts / relationships
Incorporate work, Scrooge pays later
Don’t cheap out !
Corporate Structure
Founding shares
Voting rights
share classes
Shareholders’ agreement
= pre-nup
always cutomized! –> Hire/finance/sell arrangements
Corporate governance
Board
Officers
Shareholder exit
(Divorce, sale, etc.)
pre-venture
venture-ready
Questions (cont’d)
Q: Finding the right laywer?
A: Long-term relationship, so raport & fit.
Experience in the field you’re in.
Q: NDA for investors?
A: Practically, many won’t. as a lawyer, try (Esp. with angel investors, low deal flow)
Q: No IP assignment document?
A: Employee? Company. Consultant? Consultant.

Intellectual Property
Protecting your primary assets
Example: Steve Jobs
Patented stair design
in appl stroes!
Secretve & controlling Vs Lean start-up practice (Shh!)
I.P. is not only about patents
– trademarks
– design
– etc.
Costs –> Definitely get a specialist
$ 10-15K full patent
$ 2-4K provisional patent
+ Prosecution & enforcement
Your lwer may not look like this
Trademarks –> Brand
$1-2K for registration (R)
6-18 months
But improper use — rights
Digital media is about brand
– Research your brands! Protect your brands!
Trade Secrets
easy, cheap no time limit / disclosure
But watch out for traps in NDAs
should be mutual
watch out for big companies !
sometimes they use IP assignment forms!
ENT101 October 10, 2012
Notes by Sacha Chua (@sachac)
Livinganawesomelife.com
Contracts
Legallybinding agreement
Use contracts with everyone
– Employees
– Founders
– …
– Customers
– Contractors
Emails, Letter of intent,
Memorandum of Understanding
May be legally binding, may not!
You need legal reviews of LOIs, MOUs.
Lawyers — Manage nsk
Protect IP
$ Sell company
Review agreements,etc.
We are here to be paranoid.

Questions
Q: Pre-venture us ventures?
A: Simpler takes deals etc into account
Q: Cost of patent enforcement?
A: Several thousands just to check if you have a claim, way more to defend
Patent –> right, but you have to defend them.
Q: Provisional patent vs full?
Reserve that filing date, then file full after. Can have pitfalls
Q: Lean startup?
A: Depends on type of company, Legal perpsective, worried about incomplete
Q: Demographics of ENT 101?
A: Similar to MaRS–Organizer
Q: Hackathon? A: if you’re willing.

Sketchnotes: ENT101: Lived It Lecture – Bruce Poon Tip (G Adventures) on Social Enterprise

Posted: - Modified: | business, entrepreneurship, sketchnotes

Click on the image for a larger version of sketchnotes. This talk is part of the free MaRS Entrepreneurship 101 series (webcast and in-person session every Wednesday!)

Feel free to share this! You can credit it as (c) 2012 Sacha Chua under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada licence.

20121003 Entrepreneurship 101 - Lived It Lecture - Bruce Poon Tip - G-Adventures

Missed the first session? Check out my sketchnotes for Finding and Validating Your Idea (Keri Damen).

Liked these notes? They’re fun to do and I’m happy to share them. I learn, other people learn, everyone’s happy! If you want, you can set up some time for tea/hot chocolate/Skype/Google Hangout (or e-mail me your thoughts), tell me what you’re interested in, and help me in my quest to learn how to get really good at connecting the dots. =)

Looking forward to sharing more notes next week!

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MARS ENTREPRENEURSHIP 101: LIVED IT LECTURE
BRUCE POON TIP. G ADVENTURES
1990 Backpacking myself…
Envision the world before
Google
Email
Fax
People had to go to travel agents
I realized…
Canadians only have ~2 weeks holiday.
Looking for adventure companies in German phone books..
How do you turn tourism into something exportable?
GAP
Cruise
backpack
all these people trapped in mainstream holidays…
opportunity !
Now –> I’m surprised by the number of people who say
I want to go to Antarctica this Thursday…
$100 spent
Only $5 actually stays in a developing country’s economy.
–> UNEP 2008
Ex: public beahces in Jamaica
Flashback
I just got my fax machine..
… and then I realized they needed to have a fax machine too!
Business Model
Happiness
Building a buisness model around this.

1993
Europeans have way more holidays..
The Australians work between holidays..
Export the business! Now.
need a brand
(sustainable)
HAPPINESS
(at work)
– perceived progress
– freedom
– being part of something
– larger than yourself
– perceived control –> make it easy for people to leave
– connectedness
Netflix – 14 pages of core values!
More advice from Q&A: boutique, niche
Building iconic brands
Movements ex: Dove – cheap –> premium
Social
Enterprise
a whole new style of business
Oct 3, 2012
Example: Peru
Weaving
youth going into tourism industry
time
Women’s weaving co-op
– help people
– differentiated our trips
Solving a business problem with sustainale salutions
Strategy 1: Big company: Corruption
Strategy 2: Some good, some bad
Strategy 3: Focusing on training consistency
My leadership challenge:
1500 people, most of whom I’ll never meet, want them to be happy and deliver
Traveller
Taking what we are as a business and turning it into a movement.
Transcending your product
Engaging your customers –> why, stories
Challenging customers
What will you do today for tomorrow?
Engage customers for a higher purpose–> beyond travel
Doesn’t have to cost you anything
Partnership, projects
Q: How do you do everything?
A: Great people
Q: Pivot?
A: The world is changing so much ~every 5 years
Q: Biggest mistakes?
A: Trying too hard to find diamonds in the rough while bootstrapping
sometimes not best for business