Patently Strategic - Patent Strategy for Startups Startup Capital: Strategic Fundraising and Patent Value
Whether you’re a founder looking to take the next fundraising steps beyond bootstrapping, an aspiring angel investor looking to understand the risks of seed investing, or even a practitioner hoping to get a better grasp of how this all works hand-in-hand with patent strategy, today’s topic provides an incredible springboard into the high risk, high reward world of strategic fundraising for early-stage startups.
** Guest Host: Charlie Pascal **
To help us with the specifics, we’ve enlisted the assistance of Charlie Pascal. Charlie is the founder and principal attorney at Pascal Advisory LLC, where he’s spent the last decade focused primarily on working with early-stage tech and life science companies to navigate the legal complexities of everything from the pre-incorporation cocktail napkin stage to helping founders pick teams and build a board, on through our focus today, which is advising on all of the funding rounds from friends and family on through venture capital. Much like Aurora does with many of our early-stage clients, Charlie functions as what you can essentially think of as fractional general counsel for companies that aren't yet ready or able to engage full-time in-house legal counsel.
** Episode Overview **
Charlie and the panel discuss:
⦿ The various routes and rounds of fundraising available to early-stage companies.
⦿ How patents can play into each and how differences in business models can significantly impact patent strategy.
⦿ As a founder, what goes initially into projecting a budget for fundraising needs, and later, how to think about valuation.
⦿ How to get the most out of your patents when it comes to valuation and approaching investors.
⦿ And great pro tips on some surprising sharp corners related to things like preferred stock, down rounds, the investor payout waterfall, and the very commonly used and freely downloadable SAFE equity agreement created by Y-Combinator.
** Related Content **
⦿ What Investors Want in Patents: https://www.aurorapatents.com/blog/what-investors-want-in-patents-with-sridhar-iyengar
⦿ Government Grants and Patent Rights: https://www.aurorapatents.com/blog/government-grants-and-patent-rights
⦿ Key Considerations for IP Diligence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeeAmgAMtQA
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