ScaleUp Speaker Series Austin Spring 2024 - All Sessions

This cycle of Morrison Foerster’s ScaleUp Speaker Series in Austin, presented in partnership with Bridge Bank, provided a legal roadmap for entrepreneurs looking to scale their companies. Participants gained the knowledge needed to manage the legal aspects of launching, funding, and growing a startup, while learning how to avoid common mistakes.

• Protecting Your IP – April 3, 2024 – Participants learned the basics of the different types of intellectual property, how they add value to a startup, and common missteps to avoid that could prevent a startup from protecting its intellectual property.
• Raising Angel Investment (Including Convertible Note Financing) – April 10, 2024 – Participants learned about the most common angel investment structures and practices in seed-stage investing (including debt, equity, and hybrid approaches) and received an introduction to the preferred stock terms that form the basis of venture capital investments.
• Raising Venture Capital Investment (Deal Terms and Structures) – April 17, 2024 – Participants learned the basic concepts, structures, and mathematics behind venture capital investments, including capital structures, term sheets, and capitalization and liquidation models.
• Venture Debt 101 – April 24, 2024 – Participants learned how venture debt differs from other types of loans, along with its potential benefits, ideal timing, key considerations, and potential pitfalls.
• Most Common Legal Mistakes of Startup Entrepreneurs – May 1, 2024 – Participants learned about common legal mistakes, their impact on startups, and strategies for avoiding them.
• Startup Equity Incentives – May 8, 2024 – Participants learned the fundamentals of customary equity incentives and how they are used to attract and retain top talent in a competitive market. The session covered founder vesting, restricted stock, and stock options, including ISOs and NSOs.
• Technology Transactions – May 15, 2024 – Participants learned about the legal and commercial issues that can arise in connection with the acquisition, development, adoption, and commercialization of new technologies and intellectual property assets.
• Selling Your Startup and the Road to a Successful IPO – May 22, 2024 – Participants learned about the differences among acquisition structures, fundamental mergers and acquisitions (M&A) terms, and the key provisions of definitive M&A agreements. The session also covered the steps involved in preparing for an IPO, including the process, timing, and life as a U.S. public company.
• Open Forum Recap – May 29, 2024 – Participants joined an interactive open forum where they asked Morrison Foerster’s startup attorneys questions about topics covered during earlier sessions and startup legal issues more broadly.

For more information about ScaleUp programming offered in Austin, Boston, New York, and Palo Alto, please visit MoFo ScaleUp.