Startup Fundamentals 1: Start Right, Avoid Common Mistakes & Pitfalls

Unlock Your Startup’s Potential: Join Our Essential Workshop!

Are you an entrepreneur ready to transform your vision into a successful, fundable startup? Access Silicon Valley invites you to join us for an invaluable 3-hour workshop designed to equip you with the legal and business tools and insights necessary to build a fundable and scalable startup and thrive in the startup ecosystem!

This is the first of three workshops in the Access Silicon Valley Startup Fundamental Series for startup founders, startup executives, entrepreneurs, innovators, and developers. While advantageous to attend all 3 workshops, this is stand-alone content.

Thank you to our event sponsor, Snell & Wilmer.

Why You Can't Miss This Workshop:

• This first session in our Startup Fundamentals series will guide you through critical aspects of launching a startup, helping you avoid common pitfalls that can hinder your success.
• Learn from Roger Rappoport, a former entrepreneur, founder of Access Silicon Valley, a partner at Snell & Wilmer and co-leader of its Emerging Growth and Venture Capital practice group. With his extensive experience, Roger will share actionable strategies tailored for aspiring entrepreneurs.

What You’ll Learn:

Navigating the startup landscape can be overwhelming, but this workshop will break down complex topics into manageable steps. Here’s some of what we’ll cover:

• Company Formation: Choosing the right entity type for your startup.
• Building Your Team: Strategies for hiring and compensating the right people.
• Equity Splits: Fairly distributing equity among co-founders and early employees.
• Fundamental Concepts Relating To: Vesting, repurchase rights and rights of first refusal, determining if and when it is appropriate to obtain proxies from co-founders/early employees.
• Fundraising Fundamentals: Understanding how much equity to offer investors and determining your startup’s valuation.
• Cap Table Strategies: Creating and maintaining an appropriate capitalization table.
• Intellectual Property: Ensuring all IP belongs to your company and developing a robust IP strategy.

Why Avoiding Pitfalls Matters:

Navigating these challenges successfully can mean the difference between a thriving startup and an uphill battle. Learn how to:

• Make your startup attractive to investors.
• Choose the right sources and types of capital.
• Maintain control of your company.
• Maximize your upside on exit.

Don’t let common pitfalls derail your startup journey. Join us to gain the insights you need for success! Transform your startup vision into reality—start right and avoid the pitfalls!

Materials:

A comprehensive 50-page digital workbook with an actionable step-by-step guide will be distributed to all registered event attendees on the day of the event.

Agenda:

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Dinner and networking
6:00 PM - 6:15 PM - Speaker and sponsor introductions
6:15 PM - 7:30 PM - Startup workshop Part A
7:30 PM - 7:45 PM - Intermission
7:45 PM - 8:45 PM - Startup workshop Part B
8:45 PM - 9:00 PM - Q & A

Seating is extremely limited, so reserve your seat now.

About the Speaker:

Snell & Wilmer Partner Roger Rappoport, Co-Leader of the Emerging Growth and Venture Capital Practice Group, is a seasoned advisor to startups and emerging growth companies and the investors who finance them, guiding clients from inception through exit. With over two decades of experience in the startup ecosystem, Roger focuses on venture capital and angel investor financings, including convertible notes, SAFEs, and other debt financings. His knowledge extends to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution, development, manufacturing, and licensing transactions, as well as executive compensation and the establishment of equity incentive plans.

He has extensive experience in advising startup and well-established emerging growth companies, primarily in the software, information technology, Internet, fixed and mobile communications technology, cleantech and life sciences sectors. Roger is the co-author of “Investor Agreements in a Financing Transaction” a chapter in Financing California Businesses,” California Continuing Education of the Bar, Co-author of "Considerations for Angel and VC Funded Startups and Emerging Growth Companies Considering a Loan Under the Paycheck Protection Program," and Co-author of “Changes in Convertible Instruments for Early Stage Financings.”

Roger is a frequent speaker and panelist on topics and issues related to the development and implementation of a company's formation and funding strategy.

Before attending law school, he was the founder of a technology company with $10 million in revenue.

Roger is very connected with investors in Silicon Valley and beyond and is an active angel investor. As an attorney, he has been involved in hundreds of transactions such as merger and acquisition transactions, private equity and venture capital financing transactions, and complex restructuring transactions.

Roger is also the founder of Access Silicon Valley, a platform for entrepreneurs, on a global basis, to gain access to Silicon Valley's best and brightest Venture Capitalists, "been there done that" entrepreneurs, and experts. Take a closer look at the Access Silicon Valley Video Fireside Chat Series hosted by Roger, with representatives of some of the Valley's most high profile VCs, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Foundation Capital, Floodgate, Venrock, Canaan Partners and more.

Questions? Email Alex Levine at alevine@swlaw.com.

Up Next

Part 2: Developing a Funding Strategy | June 12, 2025

Part 3: Understanding the "Terms" In Term Sheets | July 17, 2025