Advising Startups & Small Bus

Catalog description

Elective Course Prerequisite: Business Associations Course Requirement: written assignments Satisfies Experiential Learning requirement This course introduces students to the various legal and business considerations involved in advising entrepreneurs in forming and operating an emerging growth business. The course uses a hypothetical startup business as well as supplemental readings, sample agreements and class discussions to help students identify and deal effectively with the numerous issues presented for legal counsel to clients engaged in the startup and operation of a growth-oriented business. Issues include selecting and forming a business entity, structuring the economic benefits and management control among various owners, protecting intellectual property assets, and raising capital. The course begins with analysis of some of the issues confronting a start-up company in its earliest stages, examines the use of an LLC, both as an operating entity and as a vehicle for a joint venture, and then addresses issues faced by company founders in contemplation of a subsequent venture financing. The course presents an overview of the venture capital industry and the significant legal and business issues involved in a venture financing from both the company and investor perspective. The course combines theory and practice in order to prepare students for the types of projects and challenges they will confront in the first year of a transactional practice.