Constance E. Bagley

I've been participating in the startup world for about a decade now. I've been through entrepreneurship fellowships, accelerators, and served as founder and board member in startups.

Given that context, I can say that the vast majority of the information in this book is vital to the success of a startup, and that it is not commonly knowledge among founders in the startup circuit. I would have been much better off if I had read this book before starting anything, and I'm very grateful that I have now, as it will help me navigate many hazards in years to come!

It is a textbook, so the presentation of the format is inherently not a page-turner. That said, I think the authors have done an excellent job in writing the book so that it will be accessible to the entrepreneur (as opposed to only law students). The book is structured to follow the arc of a company from inception through IPO. At the end of each chapter, it illustrates the legal concepts of the preceding pages in a fictitious clean energy startup. There are also numerous side bars exploring case law and real-world examples. Where relevant (such as with term sheets), sample language is provided.

Are you familiar with the concept of consideration (value exchanged in a contract that gives the contract legal recognition), short-swing profit liability (the liability of insiders to forfeit any profits gained from trading of their stock in a window of time shorter than six months), or the different classes of bankruptcy (Chapter 11 Reorganization versus Chapter 7 Liquidation)? If not, you'll learn about these any many other topics in this book!

Being published in 2012, this forth edition doesn't cover blockchain law whatsoever. That said, I think that is beyond the scope of this book, and I look forward to someone publishing an excellent handbook similar to this one on blockchain and the law in the US context sometime soon (although an every-shifting legal context may delay this from occurring during the 2020s).… (altro)

A must-read for anyone starting a business. This book contains a solid introduction to just about all the common legal and business issues you need to be aware of. Despite having worked at startups for years and having done a fair bit of research on my own, I was amazed by how much I still didn't know (and didn't know that I didn't know).

The book is comprehensive and works both as an introductory read and a reference manual. It manages to strike a good balance between being technically (and legally) accurate, but still fairly readable. It's not exactly exciting reading, but still far better than trying to work your way through actual legal documents. There are tons of real-world examples ("from the trenches") and a single hypothetical example that is developed throughout the book, both of which are very helpful in seeing how the laws work in practice. The only downside is that this book makes you realize how complex some of these laws are and that, despite reading this book, you'll still need to consult with a lawyer. But at least now you know what to ask.… (altro)