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Bootlaw’s Courtroom Dramas and 7 Top Tips to Avoid Legal Trouble
This is a post in by Misae Richwoods, The NextWomen event reporter and a previous Golden Web Award winner who helps start ups, SMEs and independent professionals market themselves via MRMedia Group.
The story goes like this. Its a legal nightmare. EDS have a very enthusiastic salesman. He speaks to BSkyB for some work they need done and gets a deal for £50million. So far so good, only salesman has overpromised and EDS can’t actually deliver. Part way through the job they realise it’s more than they can do and stop work. Sky steps in a fix the project. The cost of doing so according to Sky is now £200million. BSkyB then sue for £700million damages. Ouch! My eyes are burning just looking at the gossip between these two!
It doesn’t stop there either! It turns out that the salesman for EDS has a degree which he claims he earned in the British Virgin Islands. What’s that got to do with anything? Well normally, a case is capped at the value of the contract. In the case of BSkyB vs EDS, that was £50million. However, it turns out that the salesman stood up in court and claimed he earned his degree fair and square and denied allegations he may have bought it through the internet. The prosecuting QC then produced a degree from the same university. It appears that the QC’s dog is a rather bright pooch, for not only did he get the same degree as the salesman; he also got a higher mark! The degree was of course bought through the internet. At this point everything the salesman said had to be disregarded. EDS are now standing accused not of negligently making misrepresentations but of fraudulently doing so. An interim damage of £200million has already been awarded while the judge figures out the true cost of damages. The story is set to go on…
Bootlaw for Bootstrapping Startups
That’s one of the fascinating stories shared by Barry Vitou (@bazv) and Danvers Baillieu (@danversbaillieu), the solicitors from Winston Strawn behind the highly successful Bootlaw community (@bootlaw). One of the things most bootstrapping start ups and tech entrepreneurs can’t afford to do is to hire lawyers to sit as part of their company the way corporations do. However being ignorant of the law is an even more costly game to play.
Barry and Danvers therefore put together Bootlaw as an effective means of solving the guidance needs of the start up community. It takes the form of a monthly talk around specific legal threads start ups need education on, followed by the chance to enjoy a few beers and pizzas whilst chatting with everyone. The sessions are free but limited to delegates who RSVP via the Bootlaw meetup group (http://www.meetup.com/bootlaw)
Bootlaw on pre-court methods of contraception
“Good entrepreneurship” began Barry, a partner at Winston Strawn, “is like good sex – if you do it well, everyone is happy! I’m going to show you some pre-court methods of contraception that may stop you getting into trouble, after which Danvers is going to share some tips on what to do if you have gone a little too far.”
Female Entrepreneur Startup Interview: “The MBA was the Stamp of Approval for my Fundraising”
Virginia Raemy, Founder of Talentpuzzle
Swiss born female entrepreneur Virginia Raemy is fairly relaxed about her new role as founder of start-up Talentpuzzle. “Its fun, I am enjoying it, I can be creative, and I can take full responsibility, and have no boss”.
She has reason to be content. She just received a couple of hundred thousands pounds of funding from the Venrex Fund and the Aspire Fund.. “And I have 2 smaller angel investors on board, because I was running out of cash at that time”, she says in a rather laid back manner.
Start of the Company: No US Partner But on Her Own
The idea for the company came about at the end of December 2008 and started its activities in the summer of 2009, after the hedge fund were Virginia assumed a financial role went under.
With 40.000 pounds of her own capital, she started the UK version of ‘proven concept’ recruitment portal Bountyjobs, but not as a franchise but totally independent as the people from Bountyjobs had indicated to Virginia that they had no interest in starting in the UK.
The proven concept is a disruptive model that puts the employer in first place on the website by starting a tender process for agencies, who then can decide themselves whether they are interested to help fulfil a vacancy. When a vacancy is fulfilled, Talentpuzzle sends out and invoice and keeps 25% of the commission earned by the agency.
The Route to get an Investor on Board Read more
Where are the Women in VC backed Startups? Here’s some Data to Complete…
This is a guest post by Astia, an organisation assisting women-led high growth finance companies in their route to VC financing, and a partner of The NextWomen. Sarah Travel of Bessemer Ventures has collected data about women in VC backed companies.
I speak to venture backed startups all the time. Unfortunately, more often than not, I don’t see a single female on the executive team roster. Over time, I’ve developed a hypothesis. For some reason, in the rare occurrence when I speak to a female CEO, it’s felt to me that I’m much more likely to find another female face on the company roster. It got me curious: Is this true? Are there actually more female executives in female-CEO led companies than male-led companies? If so, there are a number of implications.
To answer this question, Christine Klemke, COO of Sense Networks and I have done some good old fashioned data collecting. Unfortunately, this has been a much more time consuming task than we had expected, so we’ve only gone through the US portfolio of three VCs: Accel, my firm Bessemer, and Sequoia (210 companies in total).
Given the small sample size, and the hot-button nature of the subject, let me first disclose what this data set is *not*:
So what did I find in the intial sample?
- There were 1219 male executives (90% of sample) vs. 134 female executives (10% of sample).
- 3.8% of the CEOs were women (8 out of 210). (Which coincidentally, is around the percentage of women who are CEO of a Fortune 500 company – 3%.)
- 125 of the 210 companies (60%) did not have a single female on the executive team.
Innovate!100 is an exciting opportunity for European Startups: Apply now!
If you are an internet or technology startup, and you have not heard yet of Chris Shipley, then its time to read this article.
The new company of Sillicon Valley guru Shipley and business partner Mike Sigal, Guidewire Group, is holding its Innovate!2010 global competition to identify and promote up-and-coming technology and media startups. They are looking for early-stage companies that have what it takes to be named one of the world’s most promising startups.
The top 100 companies will be featured in a prestigious list known as the Innovate!100 – and the best of the best will receive a share of prizes valued at nearly $250,000. In addition, every startup that applies will receive promotional exposure and free training designed to improve their chances of success.
And the Deadlines are approaching fast!! So apply now.
Application Deadlines
Innovate!2010 has a rolling deadline for application depending on the location of the local Pitch Slams:
- 22 Feb – Barcelona, Spain
- 24 Feb – London, UK
- 25 Feb – Paris, France
- 01 March – Dublin, Ireland
- 03 March – Milan, Italy
- 08 March – Tel Aviv, Israel
- 10 March – Berlin, Germany
- 11 March – Prague, Czech Republic
- 15 March – Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 17 March – Helsinki, Finland
- 18 March – Stockholm, Sweden
- 22 March – Istanbul, Turkey Read more
Business Plan Competition: Cartier is Looking for Exceptional Female Entrepreneurs
Cartier is looking for Exceptional Entrepreneurs through a Business plan Competition. Recognising entrepreneurs as having “the audacity to create, to innovate, and to imagine the future,” the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards is an international social entrepreneurship competition for women who lead creative, sustainable and socially responsible enterprises in the start-up phase (no older than 3 years).
There will be 5 winners, 1 from each continent, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Candidates, who can be from any country, are invited to apply online by presenting their
business project through www.cartierwomensinitiative.com
Deadline for applications is March 10, 2010.
Startup Interview: Esra Young of The Ragtrader, The Freelance Site for Fashion Designers
Fashion recruitment agenices, whilst well established, often charge dearly for their services. Co-founded by Esra Young, The Ragtrader is an online service for freelancers in the fashion industry which enable designers from anywhere in the world to work on projects half-way across the Globe. Here, Esra talks to The NextWomen about recognising a niche in the market, their heavy reliance on social media and the slow move online by players within the industry.
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From Freelance Fashion Designer to Female Entrepreneur
I graduated from Central Saint Martins with a degree in womenswear fashion design in 1999 and worked as a freelance designer for numerous UK companies. Freelancing is tough at the best of times as it is not consistent, but I found it increasingly difficult to fit work around my two young children & so came up with the idea of The Ragtrader as an answer to the problem.
What is The Ragtrader? When did you launch and what are your objectives for the next three years?
The Ragtrader is an online service which enables international fashion companies to use freelance fashion and graphic designers based anywhere in the world. We launched in December 08 & are in the process of recruiting agents around the world in order to grow globally. China is proving to be one of our strongest markets. Our aim is to become the “go-to” place for companies looking for freelance fashion or graphic designers.
Who makes up The Ragtrader team and what do you all bring to the table?
The team compromises of me and my husband Steven who has also worked in the fashion industry for over 10 years. We have a few interns, a technical team that manage the site and business advisors and investors.
What is your business model and how do you differ from your competitors?
We are unique in the fashion industry. Read more
Forbes Woman: Empower Women Entrepreneurs to Grow Their Businesses
Investing in women business owners is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do, according to an interesting article by Forbes author Maria Pinelli. She says: “Another idea that deserves attention is empowering women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.” In the article she says that to help women-owned businesses grow and create jobs, we need to improve their access in three key areas currently not being met:
- access to capital,
- the global supply chain and
- business networks that can help them scale.
Read the full article at Forbes Woman.
Female Internet Hero: Audio Interview with Dina Kaplan of Blip.tv
As part of our Female Internet Heroes series, and in conjunction with NCWIT (the National Center for Women & Information Technology), The NextWomen will be publishing audio interviews highlighting a diverse group of women innovators from small companies, larger corporations, and non-profits, whose ideas and products are changing the way we think, work, play, and communicate. Listen as these women discuss how they first became involved with tech, why they chose to be entrepreneurs and what advice they would give to young people interested in IT or entrepreneurship.
Dina Kaplan, Co-Founder of Blip.tv
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Listen to the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Interview with Dina Kaplan. |
Dina Kaplan
Dina Kaplan is the co-founder of blip.tv, overseeing business operations for the company, including media partnerships, advertising and sponsorship deals, distribution deals, PR, marketing and investor relations.
Blip.tv is the double Webby-award winning video sharing site focused on shows. It enables independent producers to create their own TV shows for the Internet, from scripted sitcoms and dramas, to journalists covering the war in Baghdad. In writing about online video sites, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal recently wrote:
“My favorite is blip.tv.”
In 2008 Business 2.0 named blip.tv in a cover story as one of “25 start-ups to watch.”
Before blip.tv Read more
Twestival Global London is set to Raise Money for Concern Worldwide
Thursday March 25th 2010 will see people meeting in cities across the Globe, ‘Using Social Media for Social Good’. Now in it’s second year, the event, which uses the power of Twitter for marketing, aims to bring people together offline at locally held events in an attempt to improve education, have fun and create awareness.
With this year’s theme of Education, all (and they mean 100% of) ticket proceeds go to Concern Worldwide, which aims to make education accessible to the some 72 million children across the world that presently have no opportunity to go to school.
Last year saw:
- Involvement from 202 cities
- 1,000 volunteers
- 10,000 donors
- Funds raised of over $250, 000
As those involved gave money to improve access to safe and clean water for the 1 billion who currently do not have this.
Concern Worldwide Read more
The NextWomen Announce their 2010 Pitching Day
Join female entrepreneurs, managers and consultants of the Web at The NextWomen 2010 Pitching Day, Tuesday 16th March 2010, in group Workshops and 1:1 Clinics to learn the art & science of pitching skills for convincing investors, customers and partners to do business with you.
 cc: flickr flyfshrmn98 |
The event, which consists of two morning workshops run in tandem, followed by an afternoon 1:1 business clinic in which entrepreneurs can tackle any business dilemma – large or small – with a selection of industry experts, allows entrepreneurs to optimise their pitching skills with a day designed to their own specific needs.
BOOK NOW
Tickets start from £75 for early bird – workshop only – and go up to £150 for full day tickets (morning Workshop + afternoon 1:1 Clinic).
Entrepreneurs can pick from one of two workshops:
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Workshop Option 1 – When, Where and How to Pitch to Investors
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How to find the Fastest Route to Funding
Learn how to:
- Choose the right financing approach for your business
- Pitch to different types of investors
- Make sure potential investors take note of your business plan
- Retain a majority stake of your business
For more information visit The NextWomen 2010 Pitching Day page
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Workshop Option 2 – The Art & Science of Pitching to Customers and Partners
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What your Body is Saying Behind your Back
Learn:
- The power to influence, present and communicate your value proposition
- How we influence and communicate our business ideas to other people
- How to influence people more effectively by developing and extending your range of non-verbal skills
- How to read and adapt your style to achieve the greatest impact.
- The art & science of non verbal communication
For more information visit The NextWomen 2010 Pitching Day page
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1:1 Business Clinic
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Building on knowledge gained in the previous workshops, entrepreneurs will get in-depth 1:1 help and support on issues of their choice, tailored exactly to their needs through the use of exercises and advice from an expert of their choice.
For more information on the experts in attendance, possible topics for help and how it works, visit The NextWomen 2010 Pitching Day page.
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DETAILS
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| Date: | Tuesday 16th March 2010 |
| Location: | Sun Microsystems, Regis House, 45 King William Street, London, EC4R 9AN |
| Workshops: | £75 Early bird – Before March 1st (Includes drinks and refreshments) |
| £100 Full price – After March 1st (Includes drinks and refreshments) | |
| Full Day: | £150 (Includes workshop, 1:1 time with 2 experts, lunch, two snacks and drinks) |
BOOK NOW!
AWARDS
