Venture Capital & Emerging Companies

This issue of MintzTech Connect includes tax guidance on the treatment of virtual currencies, a “how-to” for writing gender-neutral agreements, and a podcast on the basics of venture debt.

In this article, Mintz attorney Kati Pajak provides guidance on how to adjust contract language to be gender-neutral.

In this episode of MintzEdge’s From the Edge podcast, Sam Effron speaks with Ben Zegarelli of Mintz about considerations for new medical device, pharmaceutical, or other health regulated start-ups and strategies for how to prepare for FDA oversight.

In this podcast, Una Ryan, a successful life sciences entrepreneur and investor, shares her fascinating story of how she came to the United States and became a successful life sciences entrepreneur, investor, and artist – and offers important tips to help entrepreneurs achieve success.

This alert takes a detailed look at the additional guidance issued by the IRS on October 9, 2019 on the tax treatment of cryptocurrency.

In this podcast, Jeremy Glaser discusses with John Morris the value of mentors and the role they can play in both early stage and later stage companies.

This issue of TechConnect covers common Equity Incentive Plan mistakes and profiles event data analytics company Vivastream and Gas It Up, a start-up focused on mobile gasoline delivery.

Gas It Up set out to solve an obvious problem: No one likes to fill up their vehicle with gas! Not only is it inconvenient, especially in inclement weather, but filling up at a gas station can also be unnecessarily expensive and unsafe — exposing you to potential credit card fraud and an increased risk of physical harm. The solution? High quality, cost-competitive fuel, delivered directly to your vehicle.

MintzTech upcoming events - October 2019

Using Vivastream, an event data analytics platform, companies that host their own events or exhibit at a third party industry event can learn more about attendee behavior: What was each attendee interested in? How does this compare to their stated interests? Which content and topics did they find most engaging?

Equity Incentive Plans (aka, Stock Option Plans) are a standard feature in nearly every start-up. Although the basic concept (granting an equity interest to an employee or other service provider) is simple enough, there are a few administrative and legal technicalities that need to be respected. Below is a list of five common mistakes that start-ups make when administering their Equity Incentive Plans.

In this episode of MintzEdge’s From the Edge podcast, Will Perkins speaks with Phil Gager of Stifel about venture debt.

In this episode of MintzEdge’s From the Edge podcast, Jeremy Glaser speaks with Jen Rubin about AB 5 — California’s recently enacted law banning most types of independent contractors, the financial impact of that law on start-ups and emerging growth employers, and the changes in hiring methods employers need to make now in order to comply with the law’s provisions.

In this episode of MintzEdge’s From the Edge podcast, attorney Ben Stone talks to Ananth Kasturiraman and Caroline Fay, co-founders of Skillist, about how their company connects employers with untapped talent in order to increase the efficiency of the labor market.

Skillist addresses underemployment through a skill-based, identity-blind online process. Find out what we miss when we rely entirely on resumes for job applications, how a new platform addresses unconscious bias in hiring, Skillist’s backstory, and more in this exciting podcast.

This month’s industry newsletter features an article on California’s Consumer Privacy Act, a Q&A with NYC incubator RLab, and a spotlight on LA’s type:A — a new company focused on health care brands.

MintzTech upcoming events - July 2019

RLab started as a partnership between New York City and its universities to turn the city into a global leader for virtual reality, augmented reality, and related technologies. Innovation in VR and AR has the potential to impact a lot of the industries that make up New York City’s economy – from media and entertainment to health care and manufacturing. RLab was founded to spur corporate innovation, support entrepreneurs and startups, and build a talent pipeline for future jobs.

Through its product, type:A is striving to bring clean beauty to the mainstream – and so far, that effort has been a striking success. Consumers, influencers, media, and investors have had amazing initial responses to the product, and type:A is working fast to capitalize on this momentum. With the support of Mintz, they have raised an extended seed round to fuel these efforts and allow the business to reach its full potential. Soon, they plan to be the go-to brand for safe, effective, and clean personal hygiene products.

In this episode of MintzEdge’s From the Edge podcast, corporate attorney Ben Stone speaks with Steph Speirs and Sandhya Murali, co-founders of Solstice, about their journey starting and scaling a dynamic start-up that aims to make solar energy accessible for everyone in the United States.

As societies and markets increasingly insist that corporations generate positive social impact alongside profit, investors have taken notice. The global impact investing market alone, for instance, doubled from $114 billion in 2017 to $228 billion in 2018, and will almost certainly continue to accelerate.