Week 1A: B-Corps, Benefit Corps, and Public Benefit Corps

You’re invited to Morrison Foerster’s ScaleUp Speaker Series Palo Alto—a complimentary series that will provide insight into the legal side of founding a startup. This weekly seminar will arm you with the knowledge needed to manage the legal aspects of launching, funding, and growing a startup, with insights on how to avoid common mistakes that can have serious consequences down the road.

We are hosting this cycle of the ScaleUp Speaker Series as a virtual-only event, and sessions will be held on Fridays.*

In this session you will learn how to leverage new corporate forms to build a mission-oriented startup while retaining the ability to attract capital and grow your business.

To register for upcoming events in this series, see our full schedule below:

To register for any of the sessions in the series, kindly email your LinkedIn profile to ECVCEvents@mofo.com.

Week 2: Intellectual Property Basics – September 12, 2025

Learn the basics of the different types of IP, how they add value to your startup, and missteps to avoid that may prevent you from protecting your IP.

Week 3: Raising Angel Investment (including Convertible Note Financings) – September 19, 2025

Learn the most common angel investment structures and practices in seed-stage investing (including debt, equity, and hybrid approaches) and receive an introduction to the preferred stock terms that form the basis of venture capital investments.

Week 4: Raising Venture Capital Investment (Deal Terms and Structures) – October 3, 2025

Learn the basic concepts, structures, and math behind venture capital investments, including capital structures, term sheets, and capitalization and liquidation models.

Week 4A: Raising lmpact Investment – October 16, 2025

Learn how impact investors and impact investments differ from traditional investors and venture capital investments, including key terms of impact side letters and program-related investments (PRIs).

Week 5: Most Common Legal Mistakes of Startup Entrepreneurs – October 17, 2025

Learn more than a dozen common mistakes, their impact on startups, and how to avoid them in the first place.

Week 6: Antitrust Issues for Startup Companies – October 23, 2025

Learn about basic antitrust laws and principles, the current antitrust enforcement landscape, antitrust risks in interactions with peers and competitors, and other relevant topics relating to antitrust and competition in the startup space.

Week 7: Startup Equity Incentives – October 31, 2025

Learn the basics of customary equity incentives and how they are used to attract and retain top talent in a competitive market. We will discuss founder vesting, restricted stock, and stock options (including ISOs and NSOs).

Week 8: Follow-On Venture Financing Complexities – November 7, 2025

Learn how startups and investors manage down rounds, recapitalizations, pay-to-play financings, and other complexities that arise only in the second and subsequent rounds of financing.

Week 9: Selling Your Startup – November 14, 2025

Learn the differences among acquisition structures, master fundamental mergers, and acquisitions (M&A) terms, and receive an overview of definitive M&A agreements and processes.

Week 10: Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) – November 20, 2025

Learn about the steps necessary when considering an IPO, including the process and timing, and life as a U.S. public company.

Week 11: Raising Capital from Foreign Investors: CFIUS Basics – December 5, 2025

Learn about the underlying regulatory framework of foreign investment in U.S. startups, how founders should think about approaching foreign investors for investment, and how U.S. investors will likely view startups with foreign investment. 

Week 12: Open Forum Recap – December 12, 2025

Join our interactive, open forum where you can ask our experienced startup attorneys questions on topics raised during earlier sessions or startup legal questions generally.

For more information on our ScaleUp programming offered in Austin, Boston, New York, and Palo Alto, please visit us at MoFo ScaleUp.

* Week 1A: B-Corps, Benefit Corps, and Public Benefit Corps, Week 4A: Raising lmpact Investment, Week 6: Antitrust Issues for Startup Companies & Week 10: Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) will be held on Thursdays.