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GrowthStudio Resources

Resources that fit your unique legal situation & business needs.

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Supportive legal resources that scale as fast as your business.

From market entry to market dominance, we support the growth you need to fulfill your vision.

  • Your future success depends on a strong foundation.

    When operating in a high-stakes environment, it’s important to get the little things right from the very beginning.  It starts with choosing the correct entity for your venture, but includes so much more.

    During formation, it is important to address issues such as initial founder equity split, protection of intellectual property, and employment and equity compensation issues.  These issues become more complex once you begin to raise venture capital.

    Helpful Resources

    Your future success depends on a strong foundation.

    When operating in a high-stakes environment, it’s important to get the little things right from the very beginning.  It starts with choosing the correct entity for your venture, but includes so much more.

    During formation, it is important to address issues such as initial founder equity split, protection of intellectual property, and employment and equity compensation issues.  These issues become more complex once you begin to raise venture capital.

    Helpful Resources

  • Raising your first round of financing?

    The first key fundraising decision most founders need to make is whether to raise on the “Pre-Money SAFE” form or newer “Post-Money SAFE” form. The correct answer will depend on certain variables like the amount being raised and future fundraising plans.  Once this decision is made founders will next need to decide on the valuation cap at which the SAFE will convert, among other terms.  Founders are often surprised to learn what we see in the market with respect to valuation cap! It is often much higher than they would have guessed. Although SAFEs have become the dominant instrument for raising the first outside capital, particularly on the West Coast, some investors do still prefer convertible notes, which contain terms like an interest rate and maturity date which are not included in SAFEs.

    If you raise money using SAFEs or convertible notes, these instruments will convert into equity as part of your first priced round or equity financing, whether Series Seed or Series A.  Completing an equity financing is typically a longer, more document intensive project, as there are numerous contracts and shareholder agreement that need to be drafted and negotiated with your lead investors.  There are just many more terms to consider as part of an equity financing like liquidation preference, stockholder protective provisions, board of director composition and registration rights, to name a few.  Getting the best terms starts at the term sheet stage and is a combination of your leverage – do you have several term sheets; investor FOMO; and the skill of your lawyers and advisers.  It is difficult to make any terms you agreed on in your first round less onerous in future rounds, so we counsel founders to pay special attention to what they are willing to agree to as part of a Series Seed or Series A financing, as there is a high likelihood those terms will carry over in future rounds.

    Whether you are raising a pre-revenue seed deal or a late-stage pre-IPO round, hands-on experience alone is not sufficient for ensuring a seamless financing process. The challenge lies in keeping deals on track, on time and on budget using streamlined forms like our Simple Series A documents, project management software, and right-sized deal teams.  Check out the resources below if you are raising a round of financing or just wondering whether bootstrapping or venture capital is the right path for you.

    Helpful Links

    Helpful Resources

    Raising your first round of financing?

    The first key fundraising decision most founders need to make is whether to raise on the “Pre-Money SAFE” form or newer “Post-Money SAFE” form. The correct answer will depend on certain variables like the amount being raised and future fundraising plans.  Once this decision is made founders will next need to decide on the valuation cap at which the SAFE will convert, among other terms.  Founders are often surprised to learn what we see in the market with respect to valuation cap! It is often much higher than they would have guessed. Although SAFEs have become the dominant instrument for raising the first outside capital, particularly on the West Coast, some investors do still prefer convertible notes, which contain terms like an interest rate and maturity date which are not included in SAFEs.

    If you raise money using SAFEs or convertible notes, these instruments will convert into equity as part of your first priced round or equity financing, whether Series Seed or Series A.  Completing an equity financing is typically a longer, more document intensive project, as there are numerous contracts and shareholder agreement that need to be drafted and negotiated with your lead investors.  There are just many more terms to consider as part of an equity financing like liquidation preference, stockholder protective provisions, board of director composition and registration rights, to name a few.  Getting the best terms starts at the term sheet stage and is a combination of your leverage – do you have several term sheets; investor FOMO; and the skill of your lawyers and advisers.  It is difficult to make any terms you agreed on in your first round less onerous in future rounds, so we counsel founders to pay special attention to what they are willing to agree to as part of a Series Seed or Series A financing, as there is a high likelihood those terms will carry over in future rounds.

    Whether you are raising a pre-revenue seed deal or a late-stage pre-IPO round, hands-on experience alone is not sufficient for ensuring a seamless financing process. The challenge lies in keeping deals on track, on time and on budget using streamlined forms like our Simple Series A documents, project management software, and right-sized deal teams.  Check out the resources below if you are raising a round of financing or just wondering whether bootstrapping or venture capital is the right path for you.

    Helpful Links

    Helpful Resources

  • Emerging companies often find IP and data to be among their most valuable assets.  How a company handles possessing, collecting, processing, and protecting it can be among their greatest challenges.

    One great idea can create or revolutionize an entire industry, but unless it is properly protected, that idea can be used against you by your competitors. That is why it is never too early to start thinking about IP creation and protection strategies. It is important to identify, protect, and even monetize your great ideas from the very start. There are various ways to protect your IP, each of which have their own particular nuances, but the GrowthStudio team leverages Crowell’s deep bench of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret attorneys with experience in in the cutting-edge technology at the center of our clients’ business.

    All companies possess, collect, process, use, and disclose sensitive data. Often such data constitutes the core value of a business. A founder must keep the business moving and protect the critical value that regulated forms of data —such as identifiable consumer information, employee data, and financial, health, children’s or defense data—can provide. Where sensitive data, technology, and business models come together, there is profound opportunity for a breach or a hack from bad actors.  It is vital to protect such key assets and operations by ensuring that practices conform with privacy and security laws.

    Helpful Resources

    Emerging companies often find IP and data to be among their most valuable assets.  How a company handles possessing, collecting, processing, and protecting it can be among their greatest challenges.

    One great idea can create or revolutionize an entire industry, but unless it is properly protected, that idea can be used against you by your competitors. That is why it is never too early to start thinking about IP creation and protection strategies. It is important to identify, protect, and even monetize your great ideas from the very start. There are various ways to protect your IP, each of which have their own particular nuances, but the GrowthStudio team leverages Crowell’s deep bench of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret attorneys with experience in in the cutting-edge technology at the center of our clients’ business.

    All companies possess, collect, process, use, and disclose sensitive data. Often such data constitutes the core value of a business. A founder must keep the business moving and protect the critical value that regulated forms of data —such as identifiable consumer information, employee data, and financial, health, children’s or defense data—can provide. Where sensitive data, technology, and business models come together, there is profound opportunity for a breach or a hack from bad actors.  It is vital to protect such key assets and operations by ensuring that practices conform with privacy and security laws.

    Helpful Resources

  • Whether your business is brand new or well-established, finding the right highly-skilled employees and advisors is an art and a science.

    Bringing the best talent to your company is the key to success. But, there is a war for talent, and the best talent expect competitive compensation packages and incentives to join and help grow a company.  Being strategic and thoughtful about hiring practices and compensation will streamline the growth of your company.

    GrowthStudio helps founders in their approach to offer letters, equity plans and grants, consulting arrangements, intellectual property protection and assignments, and everything in between, to attract and retain top talent.

    Once you have your team in place, it’s essential to keep your corporate house in order by effectively documenting meetings with succinct minutes and executing written consents that capture your most important decisions so that you are ready to raise or sell when the time is right.

    Helpful Resources

    Whether your business is brand new or well-established, finding the right highly-skilled employees and advisors is an art and a science.

    Bringing the best talent to your company is the key to success. But, there is a war for talent, and the best talent expect competitive compensation packages and incentives to join and help grow a company.  Being strategic and thoughtful about hiring practices and compensation will streamline the growth of your company.

    GrowthStudio helps founders in their approach to offer letters, equity plans and grants, consulting arrangements, intellectual property protection and assignments, and everything in between, to attract and retain top talent.

    Once you have your team in place, it’s essential to keep your corporate house in order by effectively documenting meetings with succinct minutes and executing written consents that capture your most important decisions so that you are ready to raise or sell when the time is right.

    Helpful Resources

  • Expanding operations can be an exciting time for any company, but expansion  creates many, diverse legal issues. As your company grows, it is important to continue to focus and maintain corporate records, adhere to supportable hiring practices, while continuing to look to the future.

    Expansion outside of the United States or into United States creates corporate structuring, tax, employment and licensing issues, just to name a few. It’s important to work with an experienced team when you are ready to scale and expand.

    Helpful Resources

    Expanding operations can be an exciting time for any company, but expansion  creates many, diverse legal issues. As your company grows, it is important to continue to focus and maintain corporate records, adhere to supportable hiring practices, while continuing to look to the future.

    Expansion outside of the United States or into United States creates corporate structuring, tax, employment and licensing issues, just to name a few. It’s important to work with an experienced team when you are ready to scale and expand.

    Helpful Resources

  • Complex regulations can often present some of the most difficult challenges an early-stage company will face.

    For emerging businesses, regulatory requirements not only pose compliance challenges—they can make companies vulnerable to costly disputes, sidetrack innovation, and potentially put core operations at risk.

    GrowthStudio partners with our team of more than 350 lawyers in Washington D.C. to guide clients through the complex enforcement actions and courtroom battles that arise across varied subject matters and industries, leveraging a robust presence in the epicenter of the nation’s regulatory ecosystem. Our team offers a broad range of experience for our clients in many of the most commonly encountered regulatory scenarios, with particularly deep experience in antitrust regulation, advertising and brand protection, energy, environment and natural resources, financial services, healthcare, international trade, intellectual property, labor & employment, privacy and cybersecurity, and transportation.

    Separately, early-stage companies contemplating (or actively) conducting business with the U.S. Government face additional unique compliance requirements and regulatory risks.  These include national defense/foreign espionage concerns, fraudulent certification issues, contract compliance requirements, organizational conflicts of interest limits, Government gift prohibitions, and beyond.  Further, the U.S. Government has unique enforcement tools, such as the False Claims Act, which present significant risks for companies that fail to take adequate measures to comply.  GrowthStudio routinely partners with Crowell’s elite, nation-leading Government Contracts practice to assist our clients in the full-spectrum potential regulatory concerns.

    We have experience working with almost every major federal and state regulatory department and agency, including, but not limited to:

    • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
    • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
    • Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
    • Department of Defense (DOD)
    • Department of Energy (DOE)
    • Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
    • Department of Justice (DOJ)
    • Department of Labor (DOL)
    • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
    • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Department of Transportation (DOT)
    • Department of the Treasury (TREAS)
    • Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
    • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
    • Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
    • Government Accountability Office (GAO)
    • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
    • National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
    • National Security Agency (NSA)
    • Patent & Trademark Office (PTO)

    Helpful Resources

    Complex regulations can often present some of the most difficult challenges an early-stage company will face.

    For emerging businesses, regulatory requirements not only pose compliance challenges—they can make companies vulnerable to costly disputes, sidetrack innovation, and potentially put core operations at risk.

    GrowthStudio partners with our team of more than 350 lawyers in Washington D.C. to guide clients through the complex enforcement actions and courtroom battles that arise across varied subject matters and industries, leveraging a robust presence in the epicenter of the nation’s regulatory ecosystem. Our team offers a broad range of experience for our clients in many of the most commonly encountered regulatory scenarios, with particularly deep experience in antitrust regulation, advertising and brand protection, energy, environment and natural resources, financial services, healthcare, international trade, intellectual property, labor & employment, privacy and cybersecurity, and transportation.

    Separately, early-stage companies contemplating (or actively) conducting business with the U.S. Government face additional unique compliance requirements and regulatory risks.  These include national defense/foreign espionage concerns, fraudulent certification issues, contract compliance requirements, organizational conflicts of interest limits, Government gift prohibitions, and beyond.  Further, the U.S. Government has unique enforcement tools, such as the False Claims Act, which present significant risks for companies that fail to take adequate measures to comply.  GrowthStudio routinely partners with Crowell’s elite, nation-leading Government Contracts practice to assist our clients in the full-spectrum potential regulatory concerns.

    We have experience working with almost every major federal and state regulatory department and agency, including, but not limited to:

    • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
    • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
    • Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
    • Department of Defense (DOD)
    • Department of Energy (DOE)
    • Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
    • Department of Justice (DOJ)
    • Department of Labor (DOL)
    • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
    • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Department of Transportation (DOT)
    • Department of the Treasury (TREAS)
    • Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
    • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
    • Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
    • Government Accountability Office (GAO)
    • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
    • National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
    • National Security Agency (NSA)
    • Patent & Trademark Office (PTO)

    Helpful Resources

  • Despite having the most sophisticated operations and risk mitigation practices, sometimes commercial disputes are unavoidable.

    Our definition of winning is driven by what our clients want to achieve. The foundation of our work is understanding each client’s business and goals from the inside out. That knowledge allows us to develop effective strategies that mitigate legal risk, anticipate regulatory challenges, and successfully navigate market forces. That’s why when the stakes are highest, our clients trust us to handle their most critical disputes and achieve the best solutions for their business.

    The GrowthStudio team collaborates with experienced litigators across multiple disciplines across the firm to help emerging businesses solve matters quickly and amicably in order to protect our clients’ core business, and preserve important commercial relationships. We offer pragmatic, commercial advice and support to our clients based on a thorough understanding of their businesses.

    For our clients in highly regulated industries, the GrowthStudio team works closely with our trial lawyers and regulatory bench in matters adverse to government agencies, and also in commercial matters where litigation strategy may garner regulatory attention. Our first-hand knowledge of regulatory agencies allows us to help businesses navigate myriad regulatory issues. And the team’s extensive experience defending clients in highly regulated industries means our lawyers can anticipate litigation at the outset of a regulatory inquiry. We also know when litigation can and should be avoided.

    Despite having the most sophisticated operations and risk mitigation practices, sometimes commercial disputes are unavoidable.

    Our definition of winning is driven by what our clients want to achieve. The foundation of our work is understanding each client’s business and goals from the inside out. That knowledge allows us to develop effective strategies that mitigate legal risk, anticipate regulatory challenges, and successfully navigate market forces. That’s why when the stakes are highest, our clients trust us to handle their most critical disputes and achieve the best solutions for their business.

    The GrowthStudio team collaborates with experienced litigators across multiple disciplines across the firm to help emerging businesses solve matters quickly and amicably in order to protect our clients’ core business, and preserve important commercial relationships. We offer pragmatic, commercial advice and support to our clients based on a thorough understanding of their businesses.

    For our clients in highly regulated industries, the GrowthStudio team works closely with our trial lawyers and regulatory bench in matters adverse to government agencies, and also in commercial matters where litigation strategy may garner regulatory attention. Our first-hand knowledge of regulatory agencies allows us to help businesses navigate myriad regulatory issues. And the team’s extensive experience defending clients in highly regulated industries means our lawyers can anticipate litigation at the outset of a regulatory inquiry. We also know when litigation can and should be avoided.

  • The finish line is in sight!  You have grown your company and are now ready for successful acquisition or IPO.  Preparation for either a sale or IPO starts with due diligence, review of required records, and assessment of the overall legal health of your company.

    You will also need legal guidance as you move forward with a sale and the negotiation of definitive agreements or navigating the process of taking your company public.  The satisfaction of getting you (and your company) across the finish line and through a successful exit.

    Helpful Resources

    The finish line is in sight!  You have grown your company and are now ready for successful acquisition or IPO.  Preparation for either a sale or IPO starts with due diligence, review of required records, and assessment of the overall legal health of your company.

    You will also need legal guidance as you move forward with a sale and the negotiation of definitive agreements or navigating the process of taking your company public.  The satisfaction of getting you (and your company) across the finish line and through a successful exit.

    Helpful Resources

Read the definitions of important, need to know terms here.