The Start Up Venture Life Cycle: Seed, Growth, Harvest

Attorneys at Baird Holm LLP, in partnership with the Nebraska Enterprise Fund, are providing a FREE & Hybrid three-part series seminar on the legal basics of entrepreneurship. This class will provide entrepreneurs a foundational level of familiarity with certain legal concepts that are vital to a new venture’s success. Attendees that complete this course will leave with an ability to spot legal issues, avoid deceitful business practices, and develop an instinct for when it is time to involve attorneys. The ultimate goal is to share information that will help protect start-up businesses and allow entrepreneurs to focus on growing their venture and their influence.

Plan to attend each session. Lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.

Session 1: SEED (June 6, 2024)

The goal of the SEED Stage is to inform you about all of the measures you can take to protect your big idea, and your hard work. A key mistake entrepreneurs make is that they do not take these steps until it is too late. By spending a little bit of time at the beginning of your venture’s life, you are better able to avoid headache, expense, and the potential death of your business altogether.

Topics:

• Business Formation – Learn why and how to form a legal entity, the protection and flexibility it offers, and how it impacts your business decisions. This will cover the basic tax, liability, ownership, and managerial implications of each entity type.

• Intellectual Property Protection – Discover certain steps you can take to safeguard your business’ unique qualities and ensure no one else can profit off of your hard work. This course will cover the various ways to protect your intellectual property through trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secret protection.

• Funding Options -- Learn about the types of funding available for ventures in any stage. This will cover funding options such as SBA loans, grants, lines of credit, acquisitions and initial public offerings.

Session 2: GROWTH (June 13, 2024)

Now that your venture is off the ground, you want to build the proper foundation beneath it so you never fall further than you’ve risen. This session navigates the intricacies of growth, scaling, and the issues that are unique to more established businesses.

Topics:

• Insurance and Risk Mitigation – Learn various strategies available to protect again catastrophic events, including liability coverage, intellectual property infringement, record management, and how to evaluate risk.

• Employment Matters – As your business operations outgrow the company’s founders, it is time to enlist others to help your company meet its customers’ needs. Managing a labor force is a separate business in and of itself: this session explores the various ways to design personnel policies, compensation and benefit packages, and how to protect against disputes or possible litigation with employees or other parties as a result of your employees’ actions.

• Real Estate – For certain enterprises, growth and scaling requires space. This session will explore the considerations that should be in mind when deciding to secure office, manufacturing, and other buildings and real property for your venture. This includes the type of financing available and most appropriate for your business, the ownership structure of that real property, and the implications that ownership has on your venture’s bottom line, liability, and your liquidity.

Session 3: HARVEST (June 20, 2024)

Topics:

• Exit Strategies – This session will explore how to prepare to sell your venture or transition it to family members. It will cover various best practices, such as engaging advisors and “housekeeping” items to make your business look as attractive as possible to potential buyers and facilitate a smooth transaction.

Nothing contained in this seminar is or shall be construed to be legal advice. Attendees should not rely on any material presented as legal advice. Every situation is different and this course will not cover all nuance of the law. Should you have any questions about the presentation’s applicability to your business, please reach out to Baird Holm LLP attorneys at (402) 344-0500 or info@bairdholm.com.