Aug 26th – Startup Stock Options: How Not to Get Screwed

Finance4Founders is pleased to announce its upcoming dinner event titled Startup Stock Options: How Not to Get Screwed Over by your Investors, Lawyers, Co-Founders, or Team,  to take place on August 26, 2009 at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco.

We look forward to discussing  everything you ever wanted to know about how to setup, grant, allocate, vest, exercise, and sell startup company stock options for you and  your co-founders, management team, key employees, rank & file, advisors, and anyone else who gives a damn.

This session will cover setting up stock options for founders, an option pool for your employees, how to structure vesting, how to price and exercise options, how to negotiate with investors and advisors, and everything else you ever wanted to know about stock options but were afraid to ask.

Speakers

This time around, we’re delighted to present three  new speakers; , Yokum Taku of Wilson, Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Joey Tran who is general counsel at Fortis General Counsel and Anthony J. McCusker of Gunderson Dettmer who is being joined  in the event by  his colleagues David Van Horne, Josh Cook, and Mike Irvine – all of who can effectively communicate their experience and the Gunderson approach to protecting entrepreneurs and structuring successful deals in the current environment.

Yokum Taku
Yoichiro (”Yokum”) Taku is a corporate and securities partner in the Palo Alto, California office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

WSGR represents:
• more than 20% of the companies receiving venture financing each year;
• more U.S. companies in their initial public offerings than any other law firm worldwide; and
• more technology companies in mergers and acquisitions than any other U.S. law firm.

Yokum represents technology and growth companies at all stages of development, through private financings, strategic transactions, public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. He also represents investors in venture capital financings. Yokum  advises numerous entrepreneurs from initial company formation to liquidity event. At any time, he typically represents several startup companies seeking venture financing, private companies that have received financing, and publicly traded companies.

In 2008 and 2009, Yokum has been incorporating a lot of new startup companies, many of which have completed angel or venture financings.

Joey Tran
Joey Tran’s practice focuses on outsourced general counsel services, with an emphasis on the general representation of emerging growth companies in all stages of maturity. Joey has represented a wide variety of companies – ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies – and in many industries – ranging from technology companies to Web 2.0 companies to life sciences companies.

Joey has handled all matters of corporate representation, including venture capital and debt financing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and strategic counseling, IP/technology licensing and commercial agreements. Joey has structured, managed and led both venture capital equity financings and convertible debt financings with an aggregate value of over $230,000,000. He has facilitated mergers, acquisitions and asset purchase transactions with an aggregate value of over $740,000,000 between both private and public companies.

Prior to joining Fortis General Counsel, Joey practiced law in the Palo Alto offices of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP where he was responsible for closing numerous venture capital and debt financings and merger and acquisition transactions. Prior to his legal career, Joey worked in the biotechnology industry as a clinical research associate for both a medical device company and a contract research organization located in the Silicon Valley.

Anthony J. McCusker

ANTHONY is a partner in Gunderson Dettmer’s Corporate and Securities and Venture Fund Formation Groups. He has been with the firm since 1996 and is resident in the Silicon Valley office. Anthony specializes in all areas of corporate, securities and partnership laws, with a primary focus on the formation and financing of emerging growth companies and venture capital funds. His representation of companies spans the entire corporate life-cycle, including pre-incorporation planning, general corporate representation and counseling, venture capital financings, public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. Anthony also works with venture capital firms, representing them both in private financings and in the formation of their funds, as well as with investment banks involved in public and private stock offerings.

Anthony holds a J.D. from Hastings College of the Law at the University of California. He also received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. Anthony is admitted to practice in California.

Anthony is a partner in Gunderson Dettmer’s Corporate and Securities and Venture Fund Formation Groups. He has been with the firm since 1996 and is resident in the Silicon Valley office. Anthony specializes in all areas of corporate, securities and partnership laws, with a primary focus on the formation and financing of emerging growth companies and venture capital funds. His representation of companies spans the entire corporate life-cycle, including pre-incorporation planning, general corporate representation and counseling, venture capital financings, public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. Anthony also works with venture capital firms, representing them both in private financings and in the formation of their funds, as well as with investment banks involved in public and private stock offerings. Anthony holds a J.D. from Hastings College of the Law at the University of California. He also received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

If you’d like to attend this event, please apply by sending an email Dan [dot] Martell [at] gmail [dot] com, providing a short bio and links to any online profiles for review.