LAW 5161: Startup Law & Venture Capital - 2234

This course addresses financial and legal challenges facing early-stage companies.  In this way, it complements, and is distinct from, the existing course Business Planning, Entrepreneurship & Technology, which covers the life of a company from inception to public offering.   The Start Up Law course will begin by examining various considerations involved with the formation of a company that anticipates seeking venture capital, including but not limited to corporate governance, restricted stock and stock incentive plans.  The course then will shift to various aspects of venture capital, starting with seed financings through to preferred stock priced rounds; included within this examination will be an emphasis on how to read and build out pro forma capitalization tables, translating term sheets into long-form agreements, negotiation tactics, and how to handle activist and angel investors. The course's primary form of assessment will be a final examination at the end of the semester based on a hypothetical growth stage company that seeks to raise capital. By the end of the course students will have encountered material that will advance all six of the Law School's Learning Outcomes.  Specifically, students will be exposed to substantive law concerning early-stage companies and venture capital; as a result, they will be able to identify and articulate various legal issues surrounding these companies, as well as formulate and apply various legal rules and strategies.  Students also will engage in problem solving and learn how to communicate their ideas in negotiation settings, with an awareness of the relevant standards for professionalism and ethics.  Finally, students will develop competencies in numerous other professional skills, including but not limited to collaboration, document drafting, interpersonal communication, and self-evaluation.