What You Should Know About SAFEs

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What is the difference between convertible notes and SAFEs? Though they are similar in some respects, SAFEs have some distinctive characteristics that you should be aware of.

Y Combinator “Safe” Financing Documents (Singapore) Generator

Document Generator

Startup accelerator Y Combinator (commonly referred to simply as “YC”) released a set of financing documents (referred to as "Safe", or "Simple Agreement for Future Equity"). They come in a few different flavors, all of which we present here for use by Singapore companies.

Safe

Glossary Term

A term used by Y Combinator that describes short “open source” documents that have been drafted for use in early-stage private company financing deals.

Calculating Share Price With Outstanding Convertible Notes or Safes

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Now that you have agreed on a company valuation with your investors, how do you calculate the price per share for your Series A financing? This can be especially tricky when the company has outstanding convertible notes that are converting into shares of preferred stock.

Y Combinator “Safe” Financing Documents Generator

Document Generator

Startup accelerator Y Combinator (commonly referred to simply as “YC”) released a set of financing documents (referred to as "Safe", or "Simple Agreement for Future Equity"). They come in a few different flavors, all of which we present here.

Generate Your Y Combinator SAFE Financing Documents

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Startup accelerator and Cooley client Y Combinator (commonly referred to simply as "YC") released a set of financing documents (referred to as SAFE, or Simple Agreement for Future Equity). We are now making them available for you to generate your own customized set for free.

Cooley Protect – Patent Resource Center

Create and Protect

Cooley Protect is a free resource designed by Cooley’s patent counseling & prosecution team.

Introducing Cooley GO in Asia

Cooley GO in Asia offers the same free founder-focused legal resources and document generators that the US and UK ecosystems have come to trust.

What is the Difference between 409A Valuations and Venture Capital Valuations?

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This article provides a brief discussion on what 409A valuations are, why they are important, and if it impacts future valuations in venture capital financings

NVCA Financing Documents

Document Generator

Prepare the core set of documents for a venture financing using forms provided by the National Venture Capital Association.

Trade Secret Management in the United States: Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid

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Whether you are running a startup or leading an established corporation, trade secrets can provide a competitive edge under US law—if handled properly.

Consider Locating Your Startup in an “Opportunity Zone”

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In 2017, Congress created the Opportunity Zone program to encourage investment in economically distressed parts of the United States. While the Opportunity Zone program is primarily focused on providing tax breaks for investors, emerging companies may be able to capitalize on the program as well.

Trade Secrets: A Valuable Tool in Your IP Protection Strategy

Create and Protect

One of the most important things that a company can do to maintain its value is to take thoughtful steps to protect its intellectual property, its “secret sauce,” so to speak, that sets the product or company apart and makes it valuable to consumers and investors. 

Q4 2017 Quarterly VC Update: Michael Ronen on the State of Venture Capital Investing

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In conjunction with our Q4 Venture Financing Report, I sat down with Michael Ronen from SoftBank Investment Advisers to get his take on the state of venture capital investing.

Q2 2017 Quarterly VC Update: Hans Tung on the State of Venture Capital Investing

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In conjunction with our Q2 Venture Financing Report, I sat down with Hans Tung managing partner at GGV Capital, to get his take on the current state of venture capital investing.

Index of Cooley GO Docs Document Generators

Document Generator

Click here for an overview of all available document generators.

Secretary of State

Glossary Term

The Secretary of State for a US state is generally that state’s chief elections officer, chief corporations officer, and supervisor of state archives.

Series Financing

Glossary Term

Series financing refers to the rounds of equity venture capital financing that startup companies pursue.

Conversion Price Cap

Glossary Term

A conversion price cap is the maximum price per share at which convertible notes or SAFEs convert into capital stock at the time of the financing resulting in the conversion, regardless of the valuation agreed to by the company and the new equity investors.

Bridge financing

Glossary Term

A bridge financing is a financing intended to provide a startup with the necessary capital to get to a subsequent funding round or sale transaction.

Hiring in the UK: 5 Things You Should Know

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Whether you are a UK startup looking to employ your first employees, or a US company looking to recruit someone based in the UK, you should be aware of these points.

The Due Diligence Process for UK Companies

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Due diligence is the process whereby the proposed investor in, or the proposed buyer of, your company investigates the company’s business, people, records and key documents.

What You Should Know About Terminating Employment Agreements

Build a Team

What you should be aware of when terminating employment agreements with UK employees.

Pulling the Trigger(s): What are Single-Trigger and Double-Trigger Acceleration and How Do They Work?

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Double-trigger acceleration refers to the partial or full acceleration of vesting of someone’s options or stock based on the occurrence of two distinct events. Each event is a “trigger” and if both events occur, that is a “double trigger.”

Can You Patent Your Software?

Create and Protect

Emerging companies often ask: “Is my idea patentable?” Many of these ideas relate to software. The patent eligibility of software is again a hot topic in the United States and around the world. Recent developments in US law have made this an increasingly difficult question to answer.

How to Allocate Stock to Founders and Other Early Team Members

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One question I get asked all the time by a team founding a startup is how to allocate stock among the two or three initial founders. This stock allocation question is particularly difficult to answer at the start.

Generate your 500 Startups KISS financing forms on Cooley GO Docs

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In an effort to remove some unnecessary friction from early stage financings, a number of organizations have recently provided (on an “open source” basis) various legal forms for use in financings. We think it helps entrepreneurs to have a central location where they can generate these forms.

Neglecting Trademark Protection Could Be a Costly Mistake

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Not all terms can be trademarks, and not all trademarks are created equal. Learn more about trademarks and the benefits of trademark protection.

Understanding The Valuation Cap

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While in days of yore it was basically the case that convertible notes had no discernible link to any particular valuation, those days have passed.

Choosing the Right Cap Table Platform

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At its most basic level, a cap table is just a list of your company’s securities (i.e., stock, options, warrants, etc.) and who owns those securities. A cap table should tell you “who owns what.” More complex cap tables may also include formulas that model out various hypothetical transactions.

Primer on Convertible Debt

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Many early stage companies use convertible debt for their initial fundraising. This article identifies and explains the basic terms of convertible debt.