Antone Johnson has more than fifteen years experience as a business
lawyer representing technology and media companies, entrepreneurs and investors in a wide range of corporate, commercial and intellectual property matters.
Growing up in
Menlo Park and Palo Alto, California, he came to respect the unique culture of innovation that characterizes Silicon Valley, the world’s leading center of technology entrepreneurship. Supplementing this background with years of experience in Wall Street dealmaking and the creative environment of Hollywood, Antone has developed a unique perspective on strategic matters that lie at the intersection of business, law, public policy, technology and media.
Prior to
founding Bottom Line Law Group, Antone served as Vice President, Legal Affairs at
eHarmony, Inc., where he built the in-house legal function from inception to serve the rapidly evolving needs of a growing, profitable $200+ million
international consumer Internet business. For more than three years, he directed the company’s internal and external legal and government affairs teams, including more than a dozen law firms across five countries, to support the worldwide operations of its flagship
eHarmony® dating service and its network of Web 2.0
content and
community websites. eHarmony is the Internet’s #1 trusted relationship service, with more than 20 million registered users, and is responsible for nearly 5% of all new marriages in the United States. Throughout his tenure at eHarmony, Antone served as primary legal advisor to the senior management team and Board of Directors in strategic transactions, corporate governance, shareholder relations, litigation strategy, crisis communications and risk management. Key accomplishments included forging strategic partnerships; completing four
acquisitions; supporting major
product launches; expanding and enforcing a valuable portfolio of patents, trademarks and domain names; reaching a landmark settlement with the New Jersey Attorney General to resolve a controversial, politically charged discrimination complaint; and leading litigation teams in several complex cases including patent infringement, consumer class action and employment litigation.
Antone has deep roots in the consumer Internet and digital media industries, having served as in-house counsel to pioneering broadband Internet service provider
Excite@Home (Nasdaq: ATHM) from 2000 to 2002 and entertainment guidance technology leader
Gemstar-TV Guide (Nasdaq: GMST) from 2002 to 2004. He joined
Intermix Media, Inc. (AMEX: MIX) as Assistant General Counsel in 2004 and served as Director of Business & Legal Affairs at its
MySpace subsidiary during its period of hyper-growth and global expansion, culminating in the company’s $650 million sale to
Fox Interactive Media. Antone began his career in private practice at
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the world’s preeminent technology law firm, where he closed many seed stage, convertible debt bridge and late-stage venture financing transactions and IPOs, and worked on larger institutional deals with the Los Angeles office of Wall Street firm
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.
Listed as one of
Venture Hacks’ recommended “
social startup lawyers,” Antone has represented startups and entrepreneurs backed by many of the nation’s leading venture capital funds including
Andreessen Horowitz,
Austin Ventures,
Battery Ventures,
Founders Fund,
Greylock Partners,
Redpoint Ventures,
Sequoia Capital and
Technology Crossover Ventures, as well as prominent angel investors, seed funds and venture accelerators such as
Tech Coast Angels,
Y Combinator and
500 Startups. He is a recognized authority on legal, risk and privacy matters in social media, location-based services and related subjects, having been invited to speak at conferences and events organized by
Stanford Law School, the
University of Southern California,
New York University, the
Association of Corporate Counsel, the
State Bar of California,
Argyle Executive Forum, and the
Social Media Club, as well as major international law firms in the US and UK.
Antone holds a J.D. from
Columbia University, where he earned the honor of Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and a B.A.
cum laude in Economics from
Williams College. In addition to practicing law, he is a prolific commentator, contributing to
The Wall Street Journal,
Forbes, and
ReadWriteWeb among others; serving as an expert resource to journalists in
broadcast,
print and
online media; blogging at
Gust and
Mashtag; and
tweeting daily on subjects related to social media, entrepreneurship, and the intersection of people, capital, technology, and creativity. Antone has also provided
pro bono legal services to
Crisis Commons to support its
CrisisCamp initiatives. When time permits, he enjoys performing and recording
indie rock.
For a list of current and past clients, click here. See our News and Resources page for information on speaking engagements, articles, and materials written by Antone.
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