Tinderbox Webinar Featuting Dave Castor and How E-Sign Can Benefit Your Business

Saturday, May 19, 2012 by Bree Meadows

  We’re excited to announce that David Castor will be partnering with Tinderbox to present a webinar next week, How the E-Sign Act Benefits Your Business. The E-Sign act was signed into law in 2000. This act allows more business to be conducted digitally. It also provided an opportunity for businesses to enhance their transaction experiences. David will present the E-Sign act and talk about the ways that it can impact your business transactions to be digitally streamlined and more efficient. To...

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Developing Your Capital Strategy – Part 3

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 by David Castor
As stated in Part 2 of this series, a business’ capital strategy is both directed by the market strategy and leadership team required to carry out the strategy as well as directing to the market strategy and team.  A solid capital strategy is based on understanding where you are and where you need to go.

The first step in developing a capital strategy is to know your revenue projections.  If you had the money and team you need, what can you sell and when?  In developing a market strategy the...Read More »

Eric Davis Nationally Recognized in October's Issue of The ABA Journal

Friday, October 7, 2011 by Bree Meadows


Success StoryEric Davis

One of our very own, Eric Davis, is being nationally recognized for his success in the October issue of The ABA Journal. Eric has long  been a leader in entrepreneurial expertise and business law, and is a strong exterior source contributing to our firm, Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP. The article discusses about how Eric jump-started his career and the many roads on which it has taken him.  In the article, Eric considers himself a "hybrid" because he does not necessarily fit in just one firm....

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Learning To Pitch BEFORE You Start Raising Capital

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 by David Castor
The following is a guest post by a fellow Gravity Ventures member and friend, Dr. Tony Ratliff:

Learning to Pitch Before You Start Raising Capital
By Dr. Tony Ratliff

It only took about six months of deal flow and a handful of “pitches” before I realized that most entrepreneurs are really, really bad at “selling themselves” and “pitching” their ideas and companies to investors.

I cringe every time I listen to a great start-up idea or read a well-written business plan, and then watch in horror as...Read More »

Indianapolis: The Midwest Silicon Valley (or is it Silicorn Valley)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011 by Chris Stephen
I don't often re-post articles in full glory, but I couldn't resist with this one.  This is a great article from the OMMA (a magazine of online media, marketing & advertising).  There are some great quotes from quite a few movers and shakers in the Indiana technology area.  As a technology legal counsel located in Indianapolis, it warms my heart to see this kind of great press for the area.  Personally, I think all technology firms should move or open offices here.   

Big hat-tip to Jay Baer for...Read More »

Team ACH on the links for charity

Thursday, June 23, 2011 by Meg Shireman
Once again, Alerding Castor Hewitt sent at team to participate in the O'Reilly's Irish Bar & Restaurant golf scramble, benefitting The Alliance for Responsible Pet Ownership.  

On Monday, June 20th, Team ACH assembled a crack team of two litigators, the client relations manager, and our Butler intern - who just happens to also be on the Butler Women's Golf Team - for an fantastic day out of the business law office and onto the links.

Team ACH





















Maribeth, Meg, Scott, and Chris

Meg and Maribeth
Ready to get our Rory McIlroy...Read More »

Determining Your Pre-Revenue / Pre-Money Valuation

Thursday, May 26, 2011 by David Castor
Determining a valuation for a pre-revenue company is a difficult process.  A Harvard VC formula does not make sense at this stage as available P/E ratios essentially compare apples to oranges, cash flow projections are too untrustworthy to use a DCF method, and there is no such thing as a true market comp.  Investors must rely on qualitative factors in connection to valuation formulas to determine how much they think the thing is worth.  Some qualitative factors include:

•    Is the...
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Lawyered

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 by Meg Shireman
"A champion is someone who is ready when the gong rings - not just before, not just after - but when it rings."
-Jack Dempsey

GONG

Tooting your own horn, ringing your own bell...We've decided to bang our own gong.  

Welcome the newest fixture to the Alerding Castor Hewitt office, the official New Client/Wrapped Mediation Gong.

The litigation and transaction teams didn't have a celebration worthy of new business, so partner Michael Alerding came to me with the idea to buy a ship's bell to ring for each...Read More »

Seventh Circuit decides SaaS litigation case

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 by Chris Stephen

There is a new Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that is likely to have a significant impact on SaaS providers.  In Digitech Computers, Inc. v. Trans-Care, Inc. (link here), the 7th Circuit focuses on a SaaS agreement for Digitech to provide certain management software licensing components for Trans-Care (an ambulance and medical transportation service).  The Court ultimately upheld a breach of contract claim in favor of Digitech, significantly reduced Digitech’s damages award, and...

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Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 2011 - Attorneys for Tatas

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 by Meg Shireman
The Alerding Castor Hewitt faithful braved the chill and the rain of Saturday, April 16th to participate in the 2011 Susan  G. Komen Race for the Cure.   We're proud to announce that the team surpassed its goal of raising $1000 to assist the Komen Foundation's mission to end breast cancer forever and had a fantastic time walking in downtown Indianapolis.

We'd like to send a big 'Thanks!' to those who donated to the team's efforts and share a special 'Way to go!' with the team members, along with...Read More »

Funding Law - Don’t Post Your Private Offering On The Internet – PLEASE!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 by David Castor
All securities offerings fall into one of three classes:

1.    Registered,
2.    Exempt, or
3.    Illegal.


Private offerings of securities are just that – “private”.  The key for any private offering is that the offerer may only solicit investors through private methods.  There are all sorts of rules around what constitutes private solicitations and to whom the solicitations can be made, but in general "private" means that which is not public.  If a business attempting a private offering makes a...Read More »

You knew it would happen. Government wants its share of the Net

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 by Chris Stephen
Dollar SignVery interesting article from CNet regarding the proposal to be made by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill).  The article can be found here.   Basic point of the article is that Senator Durbin wants to add sales taxes to on-line sellers like Amazon and iTunes (although I would note that I think iTunes already has a tax component) for all purchases.  The idea being that brick and mortar stores in a given state shouldn't have to foot the bill for these new-fangled on-line superstores.  They should have to...Read More »

Facebook v. Winklevoss et. al. : The end has arrived

Monday, April 11, 2011 by Chris Stephen
The end is finally nigh for the ongoing litigation roller coaster that is the Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg v. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss saga.  This has always been an interesting piece of software litigation based upon (a) the personalities involved and (b) the scale.  It is safe to say that when you are one of the fastest growing companies in the country, you are going to face litigation.  In fact, that's why you call me.  And it is equally logical that when you are creating a website or working...Read More »

Profile in client success: Gauge Telematics

Monday, March 7, 2011 by Meg Shireman
It isn't often that business law firms have the opportunity to really celebrate the success of clients.  Typically, the day to day is more about filing regulations with the SEC, setting up corporations and the like with the IRS, and drafting contracts, agreements and subscriptions.

Always out to break the law firm mold, Alerding Castor Hewitt, along with KSM Consulting, had the privilege of hosting a launch party for our client, Gauge Telematics, last week to both honor their success to date and...Read More »

Funding Law - How Much Money Does Your New Business Need?

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 by David Castor
Last night I lectured on this topic to my entrepreneurial capstone class at Purdue.  It is possibly the most basic question for any startup looking to raise capital, but it is often not approached correctly.  In my experience most entrepreneurs take a wild guess at their number.

The correct approach is to look at your cash flow projections and determine it from there.  For a new startup the goal is to get to breakeven and beyond.  For later stage companies the projections may address strategic...Read More »

What Is In A Title?

Monday, February 28, 2011 by David Castor
Agreement titles are funny things.  In their best use they quickly describe the general subject matter of the contract.  For most situations a simple title is helpful.  E.g., "Services Agreement" helps differentiate between a contract for services and one for goods.  That is helpful.  Many contract titles are more descriptive (e.g., "License Agreement", "SaaS Agreement" or "Software Service Level Agreement" to describe the technology nature of the agreement). 

Where a client is using form...Read More »

Congratulations to the partners

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 by Chris Stephen
I know there will be an "official" congratulatory press release in the near future, but I thought I'd take a moment to congratulate the Alerding Castor Hewitt partners on being included in the 2011 Indiana Super Lawyers. 

Brian Hewitt received the nod as one of the Top 50 Super Lawyers in the state.  This is, of course, a recurring honor for Brian, who has been a Super Lawyer for the past several years.  Brian's practice focus is on business and probate litigation and mediation.   

The voters...Read More »

What is Your Magic Number?

Monday, February 21, 2011 by David Castor
In the words of Schoolhouse Rock, “three” is the magic number.  That is not what I am talking about.  Every business model has some number milestone that must be met to ensure a basic level of success for the business.  This can be number of customers, revenue, user seats, market share, marketers’ requirements, sales reps, break even... 

Good market research can predict this number.  Unfortunately, most business plans either ignore the number or use wild a** guesses (WAGs) to predict the number....Read More »

Entreprenuers Must Understand Cash Flows

Thursday, February 17, 2011 by David Castor
I have said it a million times since learning the lesson myself in a failed entrepreneurial effort a couple of years ago, the CEO of any entrepreneurial venture must understand the importance of managing cash flows and how to use cash flow analysis for the strategic growth of the company.

Trust me, I am all into the Six Sigma approach of throwing a couple of innovators together, rolling out a v1 product as quickly as possible, and slowly scaling the company from hobby phase to a successful...Read More »

New York guarantees lawyers to foreclosure debtors

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 by Chris Stephen
 The first caveat is that I'm sorry I haven't posted anything recently.  Work here at Alerding Castor Hewitt has been going like gangbusters and yours truly has been up to his distinguished eyeballs in work.  Trust me, however, I'm now dutifully committing myself to continue providing insight and humor as your Indiana Internet Litigation guru. 

Second caveat is that this post actually has nothing to do with privacy litigation, software litigation or really any other technology law issues. ...Read More »