The California Non-Compete Myth: What Startup Founders Should Focus on Instead

California's Longstanding Skepticism of Non-Competes

California has long taken a different approach to employee mobility than many other states. As a general rule, agreements that prevent employees from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business after leaving employment are unenforceable. For startup founders, this often comes as a surprise.

The 4th of July and the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Lessons from the Fireworks Stand

I recently crossed the border from Minnesota into South Dakota and didn’t need a road sign to know it. Every year, small-town sidewalks, empty parking lots, and even highway roadside corners transform into temporary centers of commerce – the fireworks stands. They seem to appear overnight: simple structures selling sparklers, rockets, and Roman candles, but behind them is a surprisingly familiar story to anyone in business.

The Fourth of July is more than a celebration of independence.

What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from the World Cup

Over the past few weeks, I’ve become World Cup obsessed (and, no, it isn’t about ranch dressing like some foreign fans…). As a fan and a former player, everything about this World Cup is interesting, and the splash of certain teams and fans have made it hard to stop engaging. I’ve watched the matches and social media posts. But, what is particularly interesting, is that some of the most talked-about teams are not necessarily the teams that will likely be lifting up the trophy in the championship game. Fans are drawn to teams (and their fans) that play (and root) with heart,

You May Want to Keep Some Secrets From the Robots

Let’s talk about Large Language Models (LLMs)—you know, those remarkably helpful AI tools that can draft your emails, refine your pitch deck, (maybe even help you write a blog post…) and, in certain cases, have the unintended consequence of undermining your patent strategy.  A true multitasker.

If you’re working on a new invention or idea, you’ve probably considered pasting your idea into an AI tool to “see what it thinks.” Maybe you wanted help sharpening the concept, drafting a description, or stress-testing your thinking. If nothing else, your friendly AI bot is bound to tell you what a great idea you’ve got so that you’ll like it even more!

Shark Tank Deals That Fell Apart: The Importance of Due Diligence After the Handshake

Longtime entreVIEW readers will know that my colleague and fellow author, Dan Tenenbaum, has been an avid fan of “Shark Tank” since at least 2014 when he wrote this post. Fans of the show have seen it dozens (or even hundreds) of times: the entrepreneur and the shark shake hands and agree to a deal on national television. Deal done, right…not even close. 

Reportedly, roughly 40-50% of Shark Tank deals made on camera never actually close. A 2016 Forbes analysis found that 73% of deals from the show’s first seven seasons either fell apart or were renegotiated after filming—only 27% closed on the original terms. 

Purchase Price Escrows vs. Holdbacks, An Overview

Recently, I’ve worked on several business sale transactions where the parties expressed varying preferences as to the use of an escrow account versus a holdback mechanism in the transaction structure, so I thought a brief overview of those two concepts might be something that readers of entreVIEW might find interesting.

In a business sale transaction, the parties typically (but not always) opt to incorporate either an escrow account or holdback mechanism, both of which generally serve the same role in any transaction—the parties agree to set aside a portion of the purchase price that a Buyer can recover against, as needed, after the closing. This could be for purchase price adjustment, often related to

The Risks of AI Notetaking

While we heard it here first from our very own Dan Tenenbaum (Keep that Bot Out of Your Boardroom), the New York Times’ recent article, “All Those A.I. Note Takers? They’re Making Lawyers Very Nervous,” underscores—and sharpens—a number of risks that companies should be thinking about before inviting AI notetakers into board meetings, strategy sessions, and everyday corporate discussions.

Described as a “ticking time bomb,” AI notetakers create a near-verbatim, searchable, and durable record of every utterance, off-hand remark, inside joke, and speculative comment made in a meeting. In the abstract, that may sound like good governance. In the context of litigation or regulatory inquiry, it can be deeply problematic.