Strictly Business
A legal blog on private funds, startups, and venture capital.
Strictly Business
A legal blog on private funds, startups, and venture capital.
Can a friends and family round include non-accredited investors? Should it?
The so-called “friends and family” round is often the first capital raise a new startup will engage in. Many entrepreneurs often go into it without any knowledge of securities laws and as a result, end up violating them, sometimes with…
Learning About the Basics of Copyright Law
Every now an then, one of my fellow legal bloggers writes an excellent post that I feel would be of tremendous use to my readers. Since a lot of the people who read this blog are entrepreneurs in the media…
Should new business owners incorporate in Delaware?
One question I frequently receive from people seeking to start a new business is whether they should incorporate that new business in Delaware. They frequently hear vague notions of the benefits of incorporation in Delaware but haven’t heard any definitive…
Bill Introduced in Congress to Permit Private Companies to Stay Private for Longer
Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) recently introduced a bill called the “Private Company Flexibility and Growth Act,” which promises to allow private companies to remain private for a longer period of time. Currently, if on the last day of a company’s fiscal…
There is no such thing as a “1099 employee.”
Business owners will often say that they hired someone as a “1099 employee.” What they actually mean is that the business came to an arrangement with a worker that deems him to be an independent contractor, and as a result,…
North American Securities Administrators Association revises proposed model rule addressing state registration of exempt private fund managers.
As most people involved in the investment management industry know, many private investment fund managers will soon be required to register as investment advisers with the SEC, unless they meet certain exemptions, such as the so-called “private fund adviser exemption,”…
Is securities law compliance really all that important for a small company raising money from friends and family? (Yes, it is.)
One of the things that new entrepreneurs often find most shocking is the degree of restrictions that both the federal and state governments impose on their capital raising activities. To them, it is simply unbelievable that the government would regulate…
Buying or selling a business? Here are 6 items that should be in your letter of intent.
One of the first formal steps in the process of buying or selling a business is drafting a letter of intent. It’s important to understand that a letter of intent is not the end of the negotiation process but merely…
Legislation Giving Private Equity Fund Managers Exemption from Registration Clears Key Committee
A bill called the Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act recently cleared the Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill’s intent is to exempt certain private equity funds from Investment Adviser registration.