Resources and Calendar of Tech Startup and VC Events in San Francisco and Los Angeles

Gust Blog

Antone Johnson is now blogging weekly under "Knowledge & Insight" at Gust: "Thoughts on startups by investors that fund them and entrepreneurs that run them."

He joins a group of seasoned industry experts including Gust CEO David S. Rose, who also serves as Chairman of New York Angels; "the Obi Wan Kenobi of business plans," Tim Berry; veteran investor and angel group founder Bill Payne; renowned startup mentor Martin Zwilling; and Bob Rice, founder of merchant bank Tangent Capital and author of Three Moves Ahead. Gust is a professional investor relations platform for startups and the industry-standard funding application for angel groups and venture capital funds.

Mashtag "Blawg"

Click here for Mashtag, a unique blog observing social media, entrepreneurship, public policy, and all things at the intersection of people, capital, technology, and creativity.

The Bottom Line

Click here for The Bottom Line, a daily round-up compiled from the Twitter feeds of leading voices in tech entrepreneurship, Web 2.0, venture capital and angel financing, and the startup community in San Francisco/Silicon Valley and Los Angeles/Santa Monica, with a little bit of pure fun sprinkled on top. If you like it, please share it on Twitter using this button!

"Term Sheet," Quora and Founders' Space

Follow Venture Capital on Quora We've launched a new board on Quora, "Term Sheet," described as "a hand-crafted collection of startup resources for entrepreneurs and investors ready to roll up their sleeves and dig into the gory details."

Startup financing term sheets

Thanks to all who attended our panel in San Francisco on negotiating angel/VC financing term sheets in the current "frothy" market. Click on the thumbnail above to view and download the sample convertible note financing term sheet discussed at the session.

Term Sheet assembles the best words of wisdom, both in the form of Quora answers and in links to longer blog posts, written by luminaries ranging from Marc Andreessen to Fred Wilson and everyone in between. Visit Term Sheet on Quora and click "Follow" to get the latest updates. You can also read our Quora answers to many frequently asked questions regarding startups, venture capital, angel investing, stock options, employee compensation, intellectual property, online liability, defamation, advertising law, and more. Founders' Space is another site with a narrower focus specifically on issues of interest to entrepreneurs. Antone Johnson has written a number of answers as an Advisor and Featured Contributor. Feel free to ask questions of your own on either site and ask us to answer them!

Industry Events

February 4, 2012, Berkeley: TEDxBerkeley 2012 "Inspiring Innovation" will provide a platform for the Bay Area’s leading visionaries and storytellers to speak to an energized group of thinkers, as well as to the world at large. At this event, 1,000 changemakers, innovators, thinkers, creatives, cultural leaders and social pioneers will witness a back-to-back schedule of talks, performances and other multimedia surprises showcasing the theme of Inspiring Innovation: Pioneering technologies, fresh thinking and new ideas that will foster creativity and action around the world. Follow @TEDxBerkeley on Twitter and the hashtag #TEDxBerkeley.
February 10, 2012, Palo Alto: Stanford's Technology Law Review and Center for Internet and Society present their 2012 Symposium: First Amendment Challenges in the Digital Age. Scholars and noted practitioners from across the country will join STLR to discuss current and emerging issues in First Amendment law and the Internet. The theme and subjects covered are incredibly timely given the January 18 "Blackout" Internet protests over SOPA and PIPA. (Antone Johnson and Bottom Line Law Group signed on to the Center for Democracy and Technology's list of more than 1,000 companies, organizations and notable individuals publicly opposing SOPA and PIPA.) Registration for the Symposium is free.
February 13, 2012, San Francisco: SF MusicTech Summit X brings together visionaries in the music/technology space, along with the best and brightest developers, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce.
February 24-26, 2012, Santa Monica: Los Angeles Startup Weekend. Startup Weekends are weekend-long, hands-on experiences where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if startup ideas are viable. On average, half of Startup Weekend’s attendees have technical backgrounds, the other half have business backgrounds. Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday teams focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing "Lean Startup" methodologies and building a minimum viable product. On Sunday evening teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts.

Speaking Engagements

May 19, 2012, San Francisco: Antone Johnson will speak on social media and legal ethics at the State Bar of California's 16th Annual Statewide Ethics Symposium. The Symposium is a forum for California lawyers to participate in an interactive program discussing cutting edge issues confronting the professional responsibility area. See below for related materials and resources, including a template social media policy.

"Ask the Lean Startup Lawyer" office hours at pariSoma

Next Date TBD, San Francisco: Founding, funding or joining a startup? Got questions? Antone Johnson will spend the day onsite at pariSoma Innovation Loft's sleek coworking space at 169 11th Street (between Mission and Howard). All entrepreneurial techie and creative types welcome. Stay tuned for details and signup information.

ideakickLA: Where To Start When You Want To Start Something

October 25, 2011, Los Angeles: We're excited to help organize and sponsor the second ideakick event in Southern California, ideakickLA, on Tuesday, October 25 at BLANKSPACES, a coworking space on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. Originated by Trevor Goss in San Francisco, these are fun, casual events that forge connections, inspire collaboration, introduce potential co-founders, and even launch startups! See the ideakick website for more details on the format, buy a ticket in advance through Eventbrite ($15 in advance, $20 at the door; it pays for itself in free beer and pizza), and if you're itching to pitch, now is the time to hone your 2-3 minute presentation for maximum impact on the next crowd of SoCal kickers!

Past Events

Visit our Event Archive to read about past events in which Bottom Line Law Group participated as a presenter, sponsor or attendee, including Web 2.0 Summit, Startup Weekend, Geo-Loco, Freelance Camp PRO, TEDx SoMa, Social Media Camp, the Social Media Clubhouse at SxSW Interactive and Tech Coast Angels' Los Angeles Fast Pitch Competition.

Media

Martindale-Hubbell Connected Pulse: Watch Antone Johnson's interview with Mike Mintz in which they discuss social media law and international expansion, drawing on experiences at MySpace and eHarmony:

New Threats to Cybersecurity panel (streaming video 300k), Stanford Law School Program in Law, Science and Technology, 6th Annual E-Commerce Best Practices Conference, June 12, 2009