Here is one of those convergence points where business law and
privacy law intersect and effectuate additional administrative
duties on the business holder. In a rather interesting
bulletin, the Connecticut Department of Insurance issued a
directive on August 18, 2010, requiring "that all licensees and
registrants of the Department notify the Department of any
information security incident which affects any Connecticut
residents as soon as the incident is identified, but no later than
five (5)...Read More »
Today I am preparing for a guest lecture at Purdue University's
Discovery Park this week on developing business plans and my
experience as an entrepreneur. I read a lot of business plans
- about 100 per year, and I also help draft business plans and pro
formas for business law clients and my own companies.
Here are some general guidelines to consider when developing a business plan:
1. Write to the intended audience. Is the reader the leadership team or potential investors? If to...Read More »
Here are some general guidelines to consider when developing a business plan:
1. Write to the intended audience. Is the reader the leadership team or potential investors? If to...Read More »
Your friendly neighborhood technology legal counsel here: I
recently saw an article over at PC World that security firm AVG
recently did a study of the safest countries in which to surf the
Internet. Seven of the top ten are in Africa, with Sierra
Leone rated the safest. The study is based on incidence of
attack by a compiled list of virus and malware attacks. The
study found that Sierra Leone's average incident rate was one
attack in every 692 surfers. Niger also fared well with 1 in
442...Read More »
Alerding
Castor Hewitt, LLP is a law firm that does a
substantial amount of legal work with clients in SaaS law and as
technology legal counsel. So much so that we were asked to
contribute to Corporate Blogging for Dummies, a
best practices book that our friends Douglas Karr and Chantelle
Flannery were approached to write.As a law firm that utilizes blogging to reach our current and potential clients, the Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP website was featured as an example within these pages....Read More »
I don't often blanket repost other blogs that I see, however, in
this instance, I think it is appropriate. Venkat, writing for
Professor Goldman's blog, writes an excellent analysis of the
recent ruling in the In re: Easysaver Rewards Litigation(S.D. Cal. August 13, 2010). This is a very interesting case
in that it covers several different, more traditional causes of
action and analysis. I'm interested to see what ramification
this case is going to have on SaaS law and privacy
litigation....Read More »
I was reminded today of something told to me by a friend last
year:
Good people who are smart
ask good questions
Bad people who are smart ask bad questions
Good people who are not smart ask bad questions
Bad people who are smart ask bad questions
Good people who are not smart ask bad questions
In business we are always looking for answers – but what we
really want are good answers. Today the issue is never
whether we have enough data (we arguably have too much), it is
whether we can properly utilize that data to make better
decisions. I see this especially in my Internet Law /...
Read More »I work with a national angel investor group that invites members
(investors) to join on two general rules:
1. You cannot be a jerk;
2. You have to invest in companies.
The President of this organization has removed a couple of members this year because they received rule #1 complaints from other members.
In my funding law practice I represent and/or work with several private equity firms, angel investor groups and private equity funds. Most funds and angel investor groups run into this jerk...Read More »
1. You cannot be a jerk;
2. You have to invest in companies.
The President of this organization has removed a couple of members this year because they received rule #1 complaints from other members.
In my funding law practice I represent and/or work with several private equity firms, angel investor groups and private equity funds. Most funds and angel investor groups run into this jerk...Read More »
I attended an angel investor group meeting today. This was an
interesting group - only 10 or so people, each of very high net
worth, looking for large investment opportunities. They
remind me more of a private equity firm with the types of deals
they are considering, but they invest individually - maintaining
the typical angel investor dynamic.
One investor is a recently retired C-level executive of a fortune 100 company. He told me about his approach to investments - questions he works...Read More »
One investor is a recently retired C-level executive of a fortune 100 company. He told me about his approach to investments - questions he works...Read More »
One of my favorite aspects of building a business law / private
equity firm is seeing clients set and reach business goals.
Many clients face complicated issues that need careful legal
analysis and creative planning. Unfortuantely, most attorneys
focus on the problems with the complicated deals and have trouble
finding creative ways to navigate the legal minefield.
Alerding Castor Hewitt takes a unique approach on business law in
that we consider ourselves "deal makers" rather than what...Read More »
Gather 'round kids, this one is interesting. The decision
actually came out in May, 2010, and I regret that I haven't had a
chance to blog on it until now, but it is still a very interesting
order that should have implications to privacy litigation, and
litigation in general. In EEOC v. Simply Storage Management,
LLC, Docket No. 09-CV-01223, the Southern District of Indiana was
faced with the issue of discovery of social networking profiles of
two individuals that claimed sexual harrassment by...Read More »
I read many business plans for early stage companies - most of whom
are seeking some sort of seed or early round capital funding from
private equity investors. One of the largest discrepancies
I see in plans is in the expense models regarding allocation
of salaries.
Post-revenue, most businesses will find salaries (including benefits) falling somewhere between 30% and 55% of their net revenue. But what about pre-revenue companies that are looking to use early capital to launch? I read a...Read More »
Post-revenue, most businesses will find salaries (including benefits) falling somewhere between 30% and 55% of their net revenue. But what about pre-revenue companies that are looking to use early capital to launch? I read a...Read More »
The post below is fantastic. It is by Michael P. Alerding,
CPA (my business partner's father) at his accounting firm's new
blog site. He gave me permission to re-post it here (thank
you Alerding & Co.). Check it out:
Alerding & Co. Blog
What Happened to Business
Ethics?
By: Michael P. Alerding, CPA
Every time I get a contract to sign, I find it almost impossible to spend the time reading the fine print and trying to understand all of the future implications of the agreement. As my son,...
Read More »By: Michael P. Alerding, CPA
Every time I get a contract to sign, I find it almost impossible to spend the time reading the fine print and trying to understand all of the future implications of the agreement. As my son,...
One of my favorite movie scenes is from The Jerk.
Navin Johnson is working at a carnival guessing peoples
weight. He is talking to Frosty, his boss:
Navin R. Johnson:
[bleakly] I've already given away eight pencils, two hoola dolls,
and an ashtray, and I've only taken in fifteen dollars.
Frosty: Navin, you have taken in fifteen dollars and given away fifty cents worth of crap, which gives us a net profit of fourteen dollars and fifty cents.
Navin R. Johnson: Ah... It's a profit deal. Takes the...
Read More »Frosty: Navin, you have taken in fifteen dollars and given away fifty cents worth of crap, which gives us a net profit of fourteen dollars and fifty cents.
Navin R. Johnson: Ah... It's a profit deal. Takes the...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2010
Contact: Lainey Scheetz
317.403.9012
lscheetz@alerdingcastor.com
ALERDING CASTOR HEWITT, LLP CLIENT NAMED 10TH FASTEST GROWING PRIVATE COMPANY IN INDIANA FOR THIRD TIME
Indianapolis, IN – Iasta, the leading provider of eSourcing software and solutions, was titled as the 10th Fastest Growing Private Company in Indiana for 2010 by the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ). A third time honoree, Iasta boosted its three-year growth rate at 134 percent.
The report...
Read More »I read a Guy Kawasaki blog post this week where he walked through
six reasons why an abundance of capital can hurt an early stage
business. In my entreprenurial law / funding law practice I
work with a lot of business owners through capital strategies and
the private equity processes. Honestly, the drafting of a
private placement memorandum is the easy part of my practice.
The hard part is creating the proper capital structure for
the long term growth and success and reaching investors who...Read More »
There is a great article in the July-August edition of the Harvard
Business Review entitled The Early Bird Really Does Get the
Worm. The article summarizes a study which found a
correlation between "morning people" and career
success. This is based on a number of traits which are
commonly found in morning people.
Traits
Agreeable
Optimistic
Stable
Proactive
Conscientious
Satisfied with Life
Being a morning person, of course I loved this! Most days I am the first in the office. I love getting...Read More »
Traits
Agreeable
Optimistic
Stable
Proactive
Conscientious
Satisfied with Life
Being a morning person, of course I loved this! Most days I am the first in the office. I love getting...Read More »
War at its best is barbarism.
Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.
--William Tecumseh Sherman
Though he said these words nearly a century and a half ago, General Sherman’s comments apply equally well to litigation, including the world of business law, technology law, SaaS law, and probate law. Litigation is a serious business, not something to be undertaken lightly. And it is often expensive – regardless of...
Read More »This is one of those great posts that gets to combine cloud
computing law with privacy law with political intrigue.
Before I get too far in, I want to set out my own caveat. In
my opinion, there is a data war brewing between the United
States, EU, and China and everyone if vying for the top dog
spot. The basis of this is the fact that each faction views
the protection of data very differently and they each want to be
the best. To just give you a surface level scratch of the
differences I'll...Read More »
Your friendly neighborhood technology counsel here: A couple
of recent state court decisions are going to start personal injury
attorneys frothing at the mouth, and might render some sleepless
nights for defense attorneys. Both Ohio and Florida recently
issued opinions in which they applied their state's respective
long-arm statutes to garner personal jurisdiction over an
out-of-state resident for tortious conduct that transpired over the
Internet.
First, you need to know what a long-arm...Read More »
First, you need to know what a long-arm...Read More »
I read around 2 new business plans per week – about 100 per
year. Some private equity investors I know read upwards of 10
per week – or about 500 per year. When you are reviewing that
many of anything, you get impatient. That is why I encourage
business owners writing plans for private equity investors or angel
investor groups to be succinct.
Get to the point. What does your company do? What pain are you solving in the market? How will you do that at a profit?
Business summaries should...Read More »
Get to the point. What does your company do? What pain are you solving in the market? How will you do that at a profit?
Business summaries should...Read More »
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