Well, I was going to write a post about angel funding to go along with my “Start-Up Tool Kit” post from this past Thursday (see post immediately below)…but I’m a BIG believer in not inventing the wheel for the sake of doing so.  I will, therefore, simply point you to a great piece I found by fellow SoCal VC Mark Suster about Angel funding called “Angel Funding Advice“.  I agree with what Mark has written and implore you to read it if you’re an entrepreneur looking for your first financiers.  We VCs see far too many deals to invest in a company with encumbered cap tables…unless we are convinced that it will be substantially more than worth our efforts to do so.

Most of you know I am a “reformed” or “recovering” (take your pick of adjective) attorney and have written before about them in my posts (e.g., click here).  Most of you also know that I am friends with so many great attorneys that I never play favorites — I simply send people to My Attorney List, based on what type of attorney they need, and let them pick based on their own preferences… so I feel a bit weird writing about a particular firm’s offerings, but this struck me as something my readers would appreciate so I felt compelled to share.

Orrick recently launched what it is calling a “Start-Up Tool Kit“… a set of “resources designed to aid start-ups and their founders on the journey from the ‘garage’ to the global marketplace.”  Maybe I shouldn’t have been, but I was (pleasantly) surprised to see such a big firm offer this.  Way to go Orrick!  Along these lines, folks can also find useful model legal docs and resources on the National Venture Capital Association’s website here.  My recommendation would be that Orrick’s tool kit and the NVCA’s model docs are great places to start the process, but are in no way a substitute for a good corporate counsel (see my previous post on the matter).  Happy Lawyering!

Well, I’ve returned from an absolutely refreshing two weeks in Maui and am recharged and ready to go.  Seems my timing is good as recent M&A and IPO numbers have been showing some signs of life (relatively speaking) and folks I have been meeting with seem to have a new spring in their step.  Let’s see how this summer concludes.