Newsletter: 011 | Playbook on Fees

Playbook on Fees

We spend a lot of time figuring out fee structures that work for entrepreneurs and startups, especially those in the early stages.  As early-stage entrepreneurs ourselves, we understand what it's like to put your own funds on the line to build a business.  And we get the importance of spending money as leanly as possible.  With this in mind, we wanted to share some of our playbook on legal fees for early-stage businesses:

  • We feel very strongly about transparency in pricing, and the last thing we want is for a client to get a bill that they’re not expecting.
  • We almost always do flat fees for projects, or capped fees if hourly billing makes sense under the circumstances.
  • We generally don’t charge hourly fees for phone calls or meetings (and if we do, you’ll know beforehand).  We want our clients to feel totally comfortable reaching out with general legal and business strategy questions without worrying about getting charged or feeling guilty about getting free advice.  This is part of our mission to create community around our firm and clients.  We know that if we provide great service and go out of our way for our clients, they’ll do the same for us.  We’re all about the long-term partnership.

Content We Liked

Read

Data: The 20 Largest US Startup Fundings of 2017
AlleyWatch
January 2018

A rundown of the top 20 US startup funding rounds of 2017 by deal size.

Listen

Podcast: Clif Bar: Gary Erickson
How I Built This
January 1, 2018

Gary Erickson (founder @ Clif Bar) shares some incredible stories about starting and growing his popular energy bar company.

Watch

Presentation: Gradually then Suddenly
CB Insights
January 2, 2018

Anand Sanwal (Co-founder & CEO @ CB Insights) gives a presentation about the pace at which technology innovation disrupts big corporates.

Content We Created

Blog Post

Review of 1031 Exchange Application to Cryptocurrencies
Scannavino Lamb LLP
January 6, 2018

This post looks at how the recently passed tax reform bill closes a potential tax-savings mechanism for those in the crypto world.

Where We'll Be This Week

Fitness Class

Tuesday, January 9, 2018
7:45pm-8:45pm
Tone House UES
201 East 71st Street (UES studio)

Our friends at FENIX are hosting a fitness class at Tone House, a studio known for one of the toughest workouts in the city.

Open Office Hours

Friday, January 12, 2018
3:00pm-5:00pm
Hub seventeen by luululemon
114 5th Avenue
(underground in lululemon's Flatiron store)

We're taking our laptops to lululemon's community space to work for a few hours and offer a chance to connect in an informal work setting.  Think of it as open office hours for you to come by and chat about law, startups, crypto, wellness, etc.  It'll also give you an excuse to buy some great workout gear.

 

You'll need to sign up online at the links provided for ticketed events.  Attendance is at your own cost and subject to limited availability.  No need to RSVP to us for any of these events, but let us know if you'd like to be kept in the loop on any last-minute scheduling changes.  Also, keep in mind that these events are not firm-hosted or sponsored events, so we have no control over availability, pricing or any other matters associated with these events.  Again, this is just our attempt at cultivating community by giving us all a chance to connect outside of the office.


About our Newsletter

We decided to launch a weekly newsletter with the simple goal of cultivating community.  Our newsletter will initially cover (1) content relating to the startup industry that we liked from the previous week, giving you something to read, listen to, and watch; (2) content we recently created, keeping you up to date on news and insight from our team; and (3) events and activities we plan to host or attend in the upcoming week, providing our community of clients, partners, and friends an opportunity to share, support, and connect with each other.

Cheers,
Nick Scannavino and David Lamb