3 ms·

Let me put it to you this way - if you are building a high-growth tech company, you want lawyers who specialize in high-growth tech companies. Since most high-

Let me put it to you this way - if you are building a high-growth tech company, you want lawyers who specialize in high-growth tech companies. Since most high-growth tech companies, at least in the US, are Delaware C-corporations, the lawyers that specialize in those companies are going to be most familiar with Delaware C-corporations. Do these lawyers have to be at large law firms? Nope, as you mentioned, there are plenty that are out on their own or are at smaller firms.

7Figures2Commas 12y ago
As I suggested above, the problem is that just about everybody in Silicon Valley is convinced they're starting a "high-growth" tech company, even when they have little more than an idea on a napkin. The number of companies that actually achieve high growth and have high-growth company legal needs is small, as is the number of startups that raise institutional capital. Heck, lots of companies struggle and fail to raise any funding at all. Of those that raise seed funding from angels, the majority will not be able to secure a real Series A. Structuring your entity and selecting an attorney on the assumption that you're starting a high-growth enterprise before you are anywhere close to having one is like spending all of your time and money trying to architect a web application that can support a billion users before you even have your first 100. It's premature optimization plain and simple. On that point, I have never met an entrepreneur who failed because he or she didn't incorporate in Delaware or retain a "startup attorney" with a fancy office on Page Mill Road. I have met plenty of entrepreneurs who have failed in part because they took on certain expenses prematurely based on misguided assumptions and rosy projections.
- swampthing 12y ago
  Everything you're saying would make a lot of sense... except that incorporating as a Delaware C-corporation basically takes the same amount of time and money, if not less. It's not that complicated. You don't have to get an attorney with a fancy office on Page Mill Road. But even if you did some big law firm, you would probably get a fee deferral that covers formation, so you're not out of pocket anything anyways.

7Figures2Commas 12y ago

As I suggested above, the problem is that just about everybody in Silicon Valley is convinced they're starting a "high-growth" tech company, even when they have little more than an idea on a napkin. The number of companies that actually achieve high growth and have high-growth company legal needs is small, as is the number of startups that raise institutional capital. Heck, lots of companies struggle and fail to raise any funding at all. Of those that raise seed funding from angels, the majority will not be able to secure a real Series A. Structuring your entity and selecting an attorney on the assumption that you're starting a high-growth enterprise before you are anywhere close to having one is like spending all of your time and money trying to architect a web application that can support a billion users before you even have your first 100. It's premature optimization plain and simple. On that point, I have never met an entrepreneur who failed because he or she didn't incorporate in Delaware or retain a "startup attorney" with a fancy office on Page Mill Road. I have met plenty of entrepreneurs who have failed in part because they took on certain expenses prematurely based on misguided assumptions and rosy projections.

swampthing 12y ago
Everything you're saying would make a lot of sense... except that incorporating as a Delaware C-corporation basically takes the same amount of time and money, if not less. It's not that complicated. You don't have to get an attorney with a fancy office on Page Mill Road. But even if you did some big law firm, you would probably get a fee deferral that covers formation, so you're not out of pocket anything anyways.