newyuppie
Pablo Ambram
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
cool stuff
marketing
Web Business
What Makes an Entrepreneur? Four Letters: JFDI
I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.”) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. You are constantly faced with decisions and there is always incomplete information. This paralyzes most people. Not you.
For the last four years ThoughtWorks has operated a lab in Bangalore India to support our software development projects in North America and Europe. Traditional approaches to offshore development are based on plan-driven methodologies, but we are very firmly in the agile camp. Here I discuss our experiences and lessons learned in doing offshore agile development. So far we've discovered that we can make it work, although the benefits are still open to debate. (Although this article was last updated in 2006, I our visited our offshore work in 2011 and found the lessons to still be relevant and thus the article did not need a further significant revision.) One of the fundamental tenets of any agile software methodology is the importance of communication between the various people involved in software development.
Using an Agile Software Process with Offshore Development
Two Ways To Build A Pyramid -- Software Development -- Informati
Some time ago, a pyramid builder was hired to build a tomb for the pharaoh. The tomb had to meet two requirements: it had to be finished before the pharaoh died and it had to be big. The builder had two problems.Introduction I am currently working with several smart, young entrepreneurs who are trying to raise capital from “angels” (i.e., wealthy individuals who invest in start-up companies). Indeed, since I moved to Los Angeles from New York City in 2005, I have been involved in a number of angel financings; and what’s interesting from my perspective as a corporate attorney is that the deals run the gamut from an angel handing a check to an entrepreneur and instructing him to “send the paperwork when it’s ready” — to an angel retaining a large, aggressive law firm and insisting on shares of preferred stock, with all the “bells and whistles.”
Angel Financing: Legal Tips for Entrepreneurs | WALKER CORPORATE
Angel Financings: 5 Tips for Entrepreneurs | WALKER CORPORATE LA
Introduction This is part two of my two-part series on angel financings. In part one , I provided the following five tips for entrepreneurs: (i) push for the issuance of convertible notes; (ii) understand the key business terms; (iii) diligence the angel(s); (iv) never subject yourself to personal liability; and (v) comply with applicable securities laws. Below are five additional tips for entrepreneurs to help them through the angel financing process. Obviously, this is still a difficult environment in which to raise capital; however, I am confident that 2010 will bring greener pastures. Tips for Entrepreneurs
This post discusses the five most common mistakes entrepreneurs make in raising capital: (i) playing securities lawyer; (ii) selling securities to non-“accredited investors”; (iii) advertising or soliciting investors; (iv) using an unregistered finder to sell securities; and (v) selling preferred stock to angel investors. The abridged video version is directly below. Mistake #1 – Playing Securities Lawyer A company may not offer or sell its securities unless (1) such securities have been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and registered/qualified with applicable state commissions; or (2) there is an applicable exemption from registration. The most common exemption for start-up companies is the so-called “private placement” exemption under Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 and/or Regulation D, the safe harbor promulgated thereunder.
Mistakes in Raising Capital | WALKER CORPORATE LAW GROUP, PLLC
Term Sheet – Anti-Dilution
It has been a while since I put up a term sheet post so I thought I’d tackle a hard one today. While it’s fun to tease lawyers about math (and – actually – about anything), my co-author on this series Jason Mendelson (a lawyer) often reminds me that lawyers can do basic arithmetic (and occasionally have to resort to algebra). The anti-dilution provision demonstrates this point. Traditionally, the anti-dilution provision is used to protect investors in the event a company issues equity at a lower valuation then in previous financing rounds. There are two varieties: weighted average anti-dilution and ratchet based anti-dilution.