Tag Archives: startups

Copywrong: Brilliantly Disruptive Startups from Napster to Pinterest

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Antone Johnson • 0 Comments

The law simply hasn’t kept pace with the largest upheaval in the distribution and consumption of content in human history, which has taken place in less than two decades since the consumer Internet was born in 1994. To a large extent, members of the general public have little idea what copyright is, how it works, or how it applies online, if at all.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: digital media, entrepreneurship, law, social media, startups, Web 2.0

When Good Legal Advice Is Worth $10 Million An Hour

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Antone Johnson • 1 Comment

One of the highest profile liquidity events in the first half of 2012 was Facebook’s deal to acquire Instagram for $1 billion. The popular mobile photo-sharing service should fit well into Facebook’s growth strategy as a public company, but its eye-popping valuation — more than that of the New York Times, for those keeping score… Continue Reading

Filed Under: digital media, entrepreneurship, law, liquidity events, Silicon Valley, social media, startups, Web 2.0

Crowdfunding Back On Track — As Milk Train, Not TGV

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Antone Johnson • 0 Comments

The version of the JOBS Act initially approved by a bipartisan majority in the House was a bold experiment in targeted radical deregulation of financial markets that would have come on the heels of one of the worst economic disasters in American history — itself attributable to deregulation with inadequate oversight — while the asthmatic U.S. economic recovery continues to wheeze and stumble through the smoldering wreckage of once-mighty financial institutions.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: angel investing, economics, entrepreneurship, law, public policy, startups

WSJ – Five Intellectual Property Mistakes Startups Should Avoid

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Antone Johnson • 0 Comments

IP ownership gets complicated thanks to the natural fluidity of startups as business enterprises: A developer may start out with a side project, bring some of that knowledge to bear on a consulting engagement, and ultimately found or join a related startup.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: entrepreneurship, law, startups

Plenty of Fish in the Sea, But Please Don’t Fugu Me

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Antone Johnson • 0 Comments

California Attorney General Kamala Harris recently announced an agreement with three of the largest online dating sites: eHarmony, Match.com and Spark Networks (parent company of JDate and ChristianMingle, among others). In much the same way Facebook reached an agreement regarding child safety with AG’s nationwide in 2008, it appears the dating sites agreed to some voluntary… Continue Reading

Filed Under: law, public policy, social media

The Great Crowdfunding Train Wreck of 2013

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Antone Johnson • 6 Comments

What sort of business operators can we predict will be disproportionately drawn to using a funding mechanism that is designed from the ground up to leverage a large number of middle-class individual investors with minimal bargaining power under circumstances involving minimal disclosure, toothless corporate governance and little-to-no liability to shareholders?… Continue Reading

Filed Under: angel investing, law, public policy, startups, venture capital