Procedural History In August 2016, the Department of Homeland Security proposed an “International Entrepreneur” parole rule that would allow qualifying foreign entrepreneurs to develop and grow their start-up companies in the United States. After public comment, the rule was finalized and released in the closing days of the previous Administration.… Continue Reading
Two amendments have been proposed to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) to permit corporate record keeping utilizing blockchain databases (the “Blockchain Amendments”). Specifically, “stock ledger” is to be defined in Section 219 of the DGCL to include ledgers “administered by or on behalf of the corporation,” in order to permit a record keeping … Continue Reading
Corporate lawyers and software developers have been watching eagerly as the State of Delaware takes steps to enable Delaware corporations to issue shares of their stock as digital tokens. Instead of recording shares on paper ledgers, corporations will record ownership using “Blockchains”: ledgers that are secured by cryptographic keys that can be distributed around the … Continue Reading
On October 26, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission amended its existing safe harbor rule for intrastate investing, Rule 147, and added a new intrastate safe harbor, Rule 147A in an effort to reflect the realities of modern business. While these changes could provide a useful tool for small businesses, the SEC’s evolving stance on … Continue Reading
As published on Medium. Sheppard Mullin, along with Silicon Valley Bank, recently co-hosted a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs at Runway on “Building and Motivating a Kick-Ass Team.” The combined experience of these panelists was incredible, and we heard some great advice about how to build and manage teams, which sometimes requires ignoring conventional thinking. The following … Continue Reading
Summarizing the week Jared writes, “Lewis Carroll famously said, ‘Begin at the beginning, go on to the end, and then stop.’ But that is hard advice to follow when one’s head is spinning…” It would have been just as apt if Jared had added that “here, you see, it takes all the running you can … Continue Reading
“Not much to report this week, dear readers! Everything is perfectly fine.” Or so says Jared. But as Gilfoyle is quick to point out, “That’s a lie.” The problem is that even though the Pied Piper product has incredible buzz, and celebrates half a million downloads, regular people can’t stand using it once they have … Continue Reading
Alas, poor Erlich! We knew him; ‘a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne us on his back a thousand times; and now,’ as Jared poetically recounts, “Erlich’s Bachmanity boondoggle has led to his being unceremoniously bucked off the Pied Piper unicorn, [lock-] stock-and-Board-seat-wise.” Unfortunately, Erlich’s lavish over-spending of Bachmanity’s capital, … Continue Reading
In this week’s episode of Silicon Valley, Richard enjoyed an unprecedented run of success, culminating with the official launch of Pied Piper’s platform. Richard has suffered so many setbacks, it’s little wonder he is initially reluctant to launch even a beta version—certain that the platform is buggy and will only subject Pied Piper to further … Continue Reading
At its heart, Episode 24 was about relationships – from the wayward dating lives of Richard and Dinesh to Big Head and Ehrlich’s marriage of “Bachmanity,” the Pied Piper entourage found themselves faced with the messy unraveling of unsuccessful relationships. To recap some of those relationships, Richard loses a girlfriend over his obsession with code … Continue Reading
At least on paper, Episode 23 was a heartwarming story of new beginnings. Sure, Richard was subjected to an excruciating limbo during which Laurie interviewed other people for “his” job as CEO. But it turns out that was only for Richard’s own good—to make sure Richard would be seen as the best choice after a … Continue Reading
Episode 22 provides a decisive and satisfying showdown between Jack’s Box plan and Richard’s consumer platform option. Richard’s not-so-secret skunkworks project is dead, and the team sets to work on the Box believing that as soon as they deliver a working prototype, they will be free to build the platform. But when they deliver the … Continue Reading
Episode 21 is a delightful maze of plots, plot twists and omens. At Pied Piper, Richard fails in his attempt to go over CEO Action Jack’s head and have Laurie, the investor, force Jack to scrap his Box and build the consumer platform. As a result of this failed coup, Jack warns Richard darkly, “if … Continue Reading
Episode 20 of Silicon Valley explores numerous classic conflicts: consumer-oriented v. enterprise business model; engineers v. sales; revolutionary vs. safe; long-term goals v. short-term profits; Erlich v. Jian-Yang … Richard’s plan has been to transform the world by giving away the basic version of Pied Piper’s revolutionary compression technology, rapidly building a huge user base, … Continue Reading
HBO’s Silicon Valley is back, but Richard is still out as Pied Piper’s CEO. To recap how we got here: in the closing moments of last season, the Pied Piper team triumphed by successfully livestreaming its condor cam video to 200,000 viewers—including Laurie, the head of Raviga Capital, one of Pied Piper’s two investors. Laurie … Continue Reading
On December 18, 2015, the staff (the “Staff”) of the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) released a report on their review of the definition of “accredited investor” under the Securities Act of 1933. This review was undertaken in accordance with Section 413(b)(2)(A) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the … Continue Reading
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, or FAST Act. Although primarily a transportation bill, the FAST Act also made changes to the federal securities laws as described below. Overall, the FAST Act’s changes to the securities laws will help facilitate raising capital.… Continue Reading
The New York “BitLicense” regulations became effective on June 24, 2015, and businesses that are engaged in “Virtual Currency Business Activity” involving New York or a New York Resident must apply for a license. The deadline for doing so is August 8, 2015. … Continue Reading
This season’s finale of Silicon Valley provided Richard with only the briefest moment of victory before he once again faces losing Pied Piper. First, the arbitrator rules that because Richard used a Hooli computer while developing Pied Piper, under the invention assignment provision of Richard’s employment agreement with Hooli, Hooli would have the right to … Continue Reading
In Episode 17, Hooli’s lawsuit appears to be nearing its end – with Hooli poised as the apparent victor. In Episodes 9 and 10 the show had positioned the case so we thought Pied Piper was sure to win. What happened? The impact of a rogue witness should not be underestimated. Click here to read the … Continue Reading
Episode 16 culminates with a disastrous end to the Intersite bake-off, and highlights an issue that’s cropped up in several episodes: troublesome or under-performing board members. To recap, Pied Piper is competing against nemesis Endframe in a “bake-off” to win a $15 million contract with Intersite. In the course of the bake-off, Pied Piper’s (formerly) … Continue Reading
There are so many legal issues in Episode 15 that it’s hard to know where to begin, so I’m going to start at the end: porn. Pied Piper is competing against nemesis Endframe for a $15 million contract from the online porn company Intersite. If Pied Piper wins the contract it will allow Pied Piper … Continue Reading
Previously we’ve discussed Hooli’s reverse engineering of Pied Piper’s technology and the threatened lawsuit for ownership of the technology. In Episode 14, Pied Piper faces a new threat: Endframe, a Pied Piper competitor, has also stolen Pied Piper’s technology, in collusion with VC firm Branscomb Ventures. This started back in Episode 10, when the Pied Piper … Continue Reading
Last post I mused that had Richard taken certain steps in the first season of Silicon Valley, he might now have ammunition to use against Hooli’s lawsuit. What am I talking about? To very crudely recap what happened last season, Richard invented Pied Piper, a music copyright search service that hid within it amazing lossless … Continue Reading