Elon Musk performed his magic on the price of bitcoin again on May 12, 2021…just not in the way most fans of the cryptocurrency had hoped. A single tweet announcing the Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin at its then current carbon intensity contributed to bitcoin prices crashing by about half. What does carbon have… Continue reading The Greening of Bitcoin
A recent SEC action (June 23, 2021) regarding Guggenheim Securities, LLC (“Guggenheim”) extended the Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower protections to include employee manuals and training materials. Whistleblower Protections Whistleblower protections have existed for many years. The term refers to several federal statutory provisions intended to keep employers (private employers or federal agencies) from retaliating against employees (and certain… Continue reading SEC Extends Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Protection
If you are an entrepreneur, you’re familiar with Non-Disclosure Agreements (“NDAs”), sometimes also called “Confidentiality Agreements.” The purpose of an NDA is to protect company-owned proprietary information. A candid question: Do you use NDAs? Why not? Because you and your business partners trust each other? You might want to rethink this. NDAs Should Be Standard Practice… Continue reading Non-Disclosure Agreements – Protecting The Company’s Crown Jewels
In my last blog on Outside General Counsel (OGC), we discussed four reasons why you should have an OGC. A key question is, what will the OGC do for you? A great advantage of an OGC arrangement is that you can have a seasoned attorney “on call,” always ready to discuss legal problems that arise on a… Continue reading What Should You Expect from Your Outside General Counsel?
Large businesses have in-house general counsel, a lawyer (or many lawyers) who are employed full-time to provide legal advice for day-to-day company problems, deal with litigation issues, navigate a maze of regulatory issues, and generally keep the company out of legal trouble. Smaller businesses, from start-ups to lower middle market, can experience many of the… Continue reading Four Reasons Your Business Needs an Outside General Counsel
In my earlier blogs we discussed some of the advantages to your business of using an outsourced general counsel (OGC), and the types of things a OGC can be used to do for your advantage. Now let’s discuss some of the economics of an OGC. Efficiencies of Consolidating your Legal Team Many small to lower-middle-market businesses don’t… Continue reading The Economics of Outsourced General Counsel
In Part 9, we discussed establishing a Transition Committee to develop and implement a transition plan. If you follow the nine steps listed above, you should have a successful sale of your business. In this part, we discuss a few other considerations for a successful sale. Step 10. Additional Considerations. As any M&A professional or any… Continue reading Nine Steps to a Successful Business Sale – Part 10: Additional Considerations
In Part 8, we discussed Seller Financing. Let’s assume that careful seller financing closes the financing gap. In this part, we consider transition issues. The buyer wants to have a smooth transition of the business from the old owner to the buyer, with minimal disruption in sales, operations, and employee productivity. If the transaction is a… Continue reading Nine Steps to a Successful Business Sale – Part 9: Manage the Transition
You’ve gone through these steps with your prospective buyer. You’ve answered all the due diligence issues, gotten agreement on some thorny problems, and are ready to move to a close. Then the buyer says his lender won’t approve a loan for the full agreed purchase price. The failure of the buyer to get the necessary… Continue reading Nine Steps to a Successful Business Sale – Part 8: Seller Financing
In Part 6, we discussed handling communications of the sale with employees, customers, and other stakeholders. In this part, we will discuss earn-outs, a common component of the sale of many small and medium-sized businesses. Step 7. Earn Outs The Problem. One of the key terms in the sale of a company is the price. Typically,… Continue reading Nine Steps to a Successful Business Sale – Part 7: Earn-Outs
