Friends and Family round - how to comply with the laws on such an early stage of fundraising by Yev Muchnik - expert in securities transactions.

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This is fundraising radio and
today is a guest speaker will

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have he have much Nick founding
member of Lounge, legal LLC and

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today, we're going to talk about
legal side of fundraising

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specifically raising super early
stage round and more.

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Specifically, we're going to
talk about raising friends,

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family and fools around and how
to create that from a legal

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perspective and not to get into
any troubles mixing, your family

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and your business.
So Kiev let's get started by you

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giving us some background.
On yourself and on launch legal,

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LLC.
Sure you very much for having me

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on.
I'm excited to add some of the

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Views that I have gathered from
my experience at a corporate and

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interface and securities
attorney.

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I started my career at a large
Law Firm or international law

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firm doing, corporate private,
equity and m&a Deals and I

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actually started in 2008.
So right when the market, oh

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thanks was also in a very
similar position that we are in

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today.
Yep.

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Experience, because I did it to
participate on some some very,

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very launch deals in different
Industries across difference.

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There's but I had to be nimble,
very much like a entrepreneur

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and so I then moved into doing
some white-collar investigations

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with the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act other.

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Similar regulations.
But then moved into the position

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of general counsel for a
publicly traded tech company out

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of genuine and did that for a
while we went dark or stop

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reporting.
So we took ourselves off of the

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public stock markets and then
also divested into a number of

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different units that the company
had.

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All had and one previously.
So and Healthcare and software

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development, and adjunct
consultant, and government

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contract is so I did that for a
little while and then started

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Moonlighting for a private
Aviation Tech startup called jet

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smarter out of South Florida and
was doing both at the same time

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for a while, help them raise
their seed and multiple a levels

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of fundraising Series B,
fundraising as well.

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Move down to Florida
permanently, or pull time to

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concentrate on that, as they
then managed to hit unicorns

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status and do really well, after
that.

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I am very much an
entrepreneurial Type of person

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as well.
And so kind of wanted to do my

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own thing and start my own
startup.

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So I moved Back to Denver, which
is kind of been home base for a

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while and started my own
Boutique Law.

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Firm focusing on Tech and
startups and emerging Tech like

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blockchain and Ai and in the
Cannabis space as well and also

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started a co-working space for
transactional attorneys trying

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to maximize the ability or
maximize the kind of the

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principle of access to Justice
and accessing the attorneys at

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if levels and then also creating
sort of a side Consulting,

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business and cream legal tech
for for the clients of those

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attorneys.
So now I've exited that That

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startup and have been primarily
just focused on my own room and

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coming in as as a key advisor.
And sometimes as a key member of

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the core team of a lot of
startups, ranging them early age

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to being fun, bid, to sort of
seek multiple rounds of Epi

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dancing in the on their path to
exit as well.

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So, it's been incredibly
interesting.

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I've learned a lot.
Still have a ton to learn and

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learn Something new every oh
yeah and just being creative.

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One more interesting components
of what I done.

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Why?
I love what I do is being

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created in and corporate
governance and legal.

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Structuring obviously there's a
number of corporate legal And to

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tease that many people are
unfamiliar with that you can use

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to to be to, to kind of meet a
number of different objectives

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for privacy two tanks to just
kind of different levels of

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holding assets, within your
group of companies.

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So having and I get a huge kick
out of that and a huge nerd

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about all that kind of stuff.
Oh yeah.

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And a very enjoyable and
Actually the blockchain

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community has really amped up a
lot of these initiatives and

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seeking sort of more
decentralized ways for her

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approach to governance.
So yeah, that's where I sit

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right now.
I am.

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So I recently joined as general
counsel of y 0, Phi, which is

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one of the first special-purpose
depository institutions in

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Wyoming.
It's a bank, which will

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basically go.
Form, digital asset custody, and

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they're really pioneering what
they're doing and Wyoming which

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is surprising, but they're very
much advanced in so many

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different ways.
We had a lot of really

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interesting projects that I'm
working on and Advising as a

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outside advisors on.
That's the, you have a very,

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very serious background, a lot
of them.

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So let's get started from
friends, family and fools

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around.
This is a pre pre.

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Seat sometimes and many
Founders.

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Actually start with this triple
tap around, but sometimes they

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think that's, you know, it's
just my family, there is not

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know, may not not many legal
documents required, raise my

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friends and family, I know the
molding know me, but when things

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go wrong, sometimes it can be
really dirty.

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So if can we go a little bit in
depth into what should the

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foundry do to avoid this sort of
problems?

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Right?
And well, it just depends on,

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you know, what kind of
relationship.

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You'd like to maintain with
those friends and family when it

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done down the line, right?
If you don't really care, then

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there's a lot of people doing.
It's all Karma and I guess it

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all follows you into the future
rounds and the future success of

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your business.
I think, you know, there are a

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lot of people who will step over
the bodies of their family

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members to get to what they
want.

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And it just depend on On depends
on your personality and your

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kind of leadership and executive
team and your board team

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structure and maybe at the early
stages, probably premature to

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even talk about those kind of
Concepts.

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But I recommend, you know, at
least at least at a bare minimum

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to have a safe and place even
with friends and family because

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at least a documents, you know,
the the investment and had gives

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them some kind of Security in
any future success of the

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company.
And when I say security, I mean,

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that's also kind of a loose term
because it just depends on which

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version of the safe you are, you
are granting to them as well.

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So Constantine, you, and I spoke
about the the the fact that

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there's two versions of the, the
faith document that was that was

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introduced by y combinator, one
was in 2013 and the other one

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was In 2017 or 2018.
But the 2013 one basically is

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lives and some World in because
it's not necessarily a security

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and it's not necessarily debt.
So the investors that were

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coming in at that round even
though it was really convenient

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for the founders in the startup
to have a very easy document in

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which to memorialize the
investment and that was sort of

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a standard form.
You meant, that didn't wouldn't

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take a lot of legal expense,
wouldn't take a lot of back and

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forth and negotiation part from
valuation and evaluation camp

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and discount.
So, but and then they realized

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that it just it gave the early
investors, no protection.

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So there was this major downside
of holding on to this the safe

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note, which just didn't give you
any kind of Security.

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So y combinator realized that
they revised the version in 2018

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to what's called a post money.
So he's so basically giving you

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and I will go into, I won't go
into the weeds because it can

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get very kind of confusing in
terms of all the legalese but

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generally it treats with a post
money safe treats the round of

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financing even at that early
stage as a separate round.

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So So, you know how much you're
going to be diluted against

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future rounds?
So, I mean, if there's if

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there's only one round, it
doesn't really make a

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difference.
But if there are multiple rounds

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even at the safe stage, it
allows you to sort of clarity

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and to how much exactly you, how
much exactly the the pie that

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you own with your investment.
So, going back to the question

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of, you know, of the formality
of the Year legal documents with

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the friends and Around.
I would recommend it just

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because I think you should be a
good person and we should, you

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know, like I said, the car must
fix to your company and those

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people that really believe in
you early on are taking the

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biggest risk with their money.
So they should have some way if

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there is future success.
They should have some way of

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participating in the absolutely.
Yeah, I think so too.

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I'm not definitely not on the
same page with you on the karma.

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Side.
I don't believe in karma.

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I'm more of a firm US law,
that's going to punish because

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we anyone who you can try to
think of deal with us.

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So let's go back to the
documents in the friends, family

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and fools around.
What, what sort of documents

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should they include other than
safe?

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So, should they register this
offering with the SEC or any

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other sort of entity?
Right.

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So that's a good question.
So in Documentation.

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And I believe in good corporate
hygiene and I would, of course,

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say that because I'm a lawyer.
But I think that a very again,

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at a bare minimum, there are now
so many resources even online,

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they're not always perfect, but
which will kind of give you at

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least a Silicon Valley, version
of a start-up that's legally

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compliant in a box if you will.
So you Got resources, like clerk

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e, you've got resources, like
cool ego, you have resources,

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like shoebox Carta is now
rolling out.

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Some kind of forum documents and
form resolutions on its

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platform.
You have new players coming into

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the space, like Equus start,
which is basing, its cap table

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management offering on the
blockchain.

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So there's a I think there's
enough I'm not, you know, And of

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the Rocket Lawyer of the days or
all those other kind of

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websites, I've had to clean up a
lot of messes and they're more

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costly than making that
investment upfront as a

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start-up.
I know that, you know, you're

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trying to run with kind of a
Lean Startup and budget.

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Keep kind of horde any cash that
you do have in the in the setup,

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but legal is really, really
important.

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And you do have a lot of lawyers
including myself that That is

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able to work with that kind of a
team and that kind of a budget

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and, you know, caps so that
there's transparency and how

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much the the startup is actually
going to spend.

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So you can prepare all these
documents yourselves and then

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come to a lawyer and say, let's
carve out, you know, 3-4 hours

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of just consultation time to
confirm that.

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We are achieving what we want in
these documents and we truly

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understand what they mean for
us.

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Right?
Because if you're if you're

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Founders.
And then all the sudden you all

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sorts of things can happen,
right?

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With the documents that you
don't fully understand that

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you're just going off the
internet anywhere from, you know

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having some kind of a call
writer put right on your Equity

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as a Founder.
Leaving you basically without

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anything upon certain event.
All sorts of kind of like what

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are called, bad boy, bad girl,
Provisions.

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So if you're not understanding
the language and you're signing

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need you could you think that
You just have to have something,

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you should be wary and you
should understand that there are

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other resources which you can
tap into to, you know, to really

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have all to check all those
boxes for incoming investors,

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but not have to spend, you know,
kind of no offense to cury but

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Cooley prices or whoever else or
or crisis or, and Wick, or any

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of the other wonderful large
firms that really play a role in

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later stage.
That's great.

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Actually, you know, and then as
far as your question about

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security threats, we are
registration for an exemption

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from a Securities registration.
I think I kind of said that

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roundabout, but I think most
people know about a reg D

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exemption.
So usually when you have, when

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you raise money or you
Securities is an issue, or you

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need to either register them, in
which case you are making it

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public or You need to find a an
exemption from registration.

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So typically you're covered
under Section 48 2 which is kind

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of a private placement under the
Securities Act of 1933 and and

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you typically try to find
there's a and against Securities

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laws is not for the
faint-hearted because it's very

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intricate, but but generally
there is something called a

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private placement and then you
would file a form d. 15 days

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from the time that you take in
your first cash.

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They've been receiving a lot of
questions recently, for those

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that didn't file the form D and
kind of being concerned about

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what repercussions that may have
and our origin.

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There are repercussions by the
SEC, but they're not sort of

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00:15:23,900 --> 00:15:27,200
over there.
Not going to go and find you so.

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00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:32,700
But if you then raised, multiple
multiple rounds in the future,

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00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:34,000
you should definitely think
about.

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00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:37,000
About filing that form D and
some that you know a lot of

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people file it late but they say
that the SEC says it's better to

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00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:42,200
file.
It late than not fight was at

235
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all.
That's great.

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00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:48,600
That's that's so generous of sec
to do because I thought they're

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00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,000
much more firm on.
This is like if you file

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00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:55,600
something several months after
you, the deadline you're already

239
00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,800
dead.
Basically, it's great time.

240
00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,600
There are two done look much
larger private placements in the

241
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:09,500
realm of.
So you know I mean like 25

242
00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:15,000
million and they haven't they
haven't filed the forms on time

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00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:19,500
and they're still has not been
over repercussions but I mean,

244
00:16:19,500 --> 00:16:22,100
don't don't hang on to that
because you just never know what

245
00:16:22,100 --> 00:16:25,300
the SEC will dealer won't do.
But it's just that it's not sort

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00:16:25,300 --> 00:16:28,700
of, you know, like a black death
that they're going to find you

247
00:16:28,700 --> 00:16:31,400
and knock on your door and put
you in jail.

248
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,200
So she's like I rest.
It's like Like they find one of

249
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:39,200
10 people who are breaking the
rules but if they find you your

250
00:16:39,500 --> 00:16:42,200
your skirt.
So don't compromise with SEC

251
00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,100
just file everything on time.
For my it's not so hard this is.

252
00:16:45,108 --> 00:16:49,100
So let's go a little bit more
and talk a little bit more about

253
00:16:49,100 --> 00:16:52,500
choosing the right safes and how
to evaluate them.

254
00:16:52,700 --> 00:16:55,500
So many Founders, I've been
asked this question multiple

255
00:16:55,500 --> 00:17:00,400
times, how do you evaluate my
company right now in a safe

256
00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,600
which include there?
What sort of discount is normal

257
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:08,700
if I'm To put to hide these
Council like 70% discount of the

258
00:17:08,700 --> 00:17:10,599
next offerings.
Going to look weird.

259
00:17:10,700 --> 00:17:14,700
And if I will put too low it's
not not that much of a deal for

260
00:17:14,700 --> 00:17:16,400
investor, it's not going to
interest them.

261
00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:20,200
So what's a overvaluation there
in your opinion, you know, it's

262
00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:25,300
it's it's difficult for me
really to provide any kind of

263
00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,500
solid advice on that I would
say.

264
00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:36,300
I would say, I think the best
advice that I have read, most

265
00:17:36,300 --> 00:17:42,500
instructive advice has been guy.
Kawasaki's art of the start 2.0,

266
00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,200
so he provides a lot of great
advice in there about

267
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,800
valuations, right?
That, you know, with early-stage

268
00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,400
companies, depending on whether
you have Revenue, don't you're

269
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,200
pre-revenue.
I mean, it just there's so many

270
00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,400
different factors that are
involved.

271
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,700
But, you know, nobody unless
you're sort of Really out in the

272
00:18:02,700 --> 00:18:06,400
clouds and, like, you're
pre-revenue, you don't have a

273
00:18:06,500 --> 00:18:11,700
MVP or POC or any of those like
the technology or any products

274
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,100
and your belly.
You giving yourself a valuation

275
00:18:15,100 --> 00:18:17,700
of 10 billion?
Like, they're just gonna,

276
00:18:18,300 --> 00:18:21,400
they're not even here they're
not even, but so they're, you

277
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:27,600
know, they're reasonable ways to
to seek evaluation for an early

278
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:29,800
stage company.
I would say, you know, obviously

279
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:36,800
have a good group, Advisors that
you speak to that are that are

280
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,900
sort of mature and thus, in
whatever industry you're in, and

281
00:18:40,900 --> 00:18:46,600
they'll be able to guide you on
what kind of factors investors

282
00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,100
would look at so.
But in terms of you Financial

283
00:18:50,100 --> 00:18:55,400
evaluations, they're different
kind of methodologies.

284
00:18:58,100 --> 00:19:00,800
Like the scorecard method when
we were looking at different.

285
00:19:00,900 --> 00:19:06,700
Current kind of factors and
giving each each away and giving

286
00:19:06,700 --> 00:19:11,400
you kind of a raw score.
So, yeah, so that's a time and I

287
00:19:11,408 --> 00:19:16,100
think it's less less.
So beagle, rather than believe

288
00:19:16,100 --> 00:19:22,100
what's what's market?
And I think the best post that

289
00:19:22,100 --> 00:19:25,100
you can get on that is people
who have been in the industry

290
00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:28,400
for a very long time in that
specific industry that you're in

291
00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:30,800
because it just varies from one
to the next.

292
00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:33,400
Next Sookie.
Can you mention that book Yen

293
00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:35,800
that you just said about the
valuations?

294
00:19:37,500 --> 00:19:42,500
The the scorecard method
scorecard, what it's called the

295
00:19:42,500 --> 00:19:46,200
scorecard method.
For example, that looks you know

296
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,500
you gives different weights to
the size of the opportunity.

297
00:19:50,500 --> 00:19:56,600
Your team how destructive your
widget or a product or services

298
00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:58,900
in the market.
Your sales channel is the stage

299
00:19:58,900 --> 00:20:02,800
of your business, where the
revenue is coming from whether

300
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,700
the Prototype is in place.
Or were you just so there's a

301
00:20:05,708 --> 00:20:09,300
number of different.
It's factors that can be

302
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,700
included into that kind of
consideration and then the

303
00:20:12,700 --> 00:20:16,900
investors, you know, give it a
rating and rates, whatever them

304
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:22,700
they're like, okay, this this
has the ability to be, you know,

305
00:20:22,700 --> 00:20:25,000
a pre-money valuation of 2
million.

306
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,100
For example, that's a good
reference so I'll definitely

307
00:20:28,100 --> 00:20:31,700
myself take a look at this book
and for those of you who will

308
00:20:31,700 --> 00:20:34,200
Unpretty, sure forget the name
of the book by the end of the

309
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:36,600
episode, I will include the name
of this book.

310
00:20:36,900 --> 00:20:39,000
In the description of the ABS.
Oh, so you can check it out and

311
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,200
you should definitely take a
look at if you have questions

312
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,600
about how to evaluate your
company.

313
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,800
So now let's talk a little bit
more about choosing the right

314
00:20:49,100 --> 00:20:52,400
safe.
So they're not the safe, my bad

315
00:20:52,500 --> 00:20:57,800
choosing the right fundraising
tool.

316
00:20:58,100 --> 00:21:01,800
So there are convertible debts
and convertible Equity notes,

317
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:04,500
can we go a little bit in depth
into this?

318
00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:06,800
What's the difference between
convert convertible?

319
00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:11,700
Dads and convertible note.
Well, yeah, I mean I guess I

320
00:21:11,700 --> 00:21:16,000
would more say that you have a
convertible Securities generally

321
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,900
and those convertible Securities
are technically considered debt

322
00:21:18,900 --> 00:21:23,100
because they have some kind of a
maturity day and some kind of a

323
00:21:23,100 --> 00:21:30,200
interest rate on it.
So I guess maybe it's a

324
00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,900
convertible like a, you have a
convertible note, right?

325
00:21:32,900 --> 00:21:36,400
That that is considered a
security that then at some stage

326
00:21:36,700 --> 00:21:41,800
Apollo upon Meeting some kind of
a qualified financing or other

327
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:47,600
event converts into equity.
And then there is the just

328
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,900
straight debt which would just
be in the form of a of a

329
00:21:50,900 --> 00:21:54,200
promissory note also with some
kind of a percentage.

330
00:21:54,200 --> 00:22:01,400
So in terms of, you know, when
the market was sort of voyant

331
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:07,700
right before this covid crisis,
hit upon us, there was a lot of

332
00:22:07,700 --> 00:22:11,400
cash in the It and it was very
cheap cash.

333
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:18,300
So more and more startups and an
early stage companies were

334
00:22:18,300 --> 00:22:22,000
taking on debt, rather than
giving away their Equity.

335
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,600
So you just have to think of,
you know, one how resourceful

336
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,600
you can be with attracting fun
and whether it makes more sense

337
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,100
to give away, more of your
company or give away more of

338
00:22:34,100 --> 00:22:40,300
your cap table and really
managing, how much of That slice

339
00:22:40,300 --> 00:22:43,700
of the pie that you're giving.
So again with kind of

340
00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:51,000
convertible convertible notes,
thinking through how many rounds

341
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:56,100
you're intending to raise
before, like a pure series, a,

342
00:22:56,100 --> 00:23:01,900
for example, and then having
those that series a round, be a

343
00:23:01,900 --> 00:23:05,800
lot larger than your
predecessor, your series seed

344
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,400
rounds, and then just I guess,
you know, series a investors are

345
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,600
going to be coming in at a
higher amount to probably going

346
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,100
to have a lot more requirements
in terms of their rights over

347
00:23:17,100 --> 00:23:21,400
the company.
So it's a balancing act again.

348
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,900
I don't know that there's, you
know, a right answer for.

349
00:23:25,700 --> 00:23:30,700
It depends again on the team,
depends on the sort of velocity

350
00:23:31,100 --> 00:23:35,600
and the expected for projected
five-year revenue, for example,

351
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,900
right?
And so once you're once you've

352
00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:42,000
made, once you have your The
intial people in the company who

353
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,900
are able to make all those kind
of category calculations and

354
00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:48,500
they are able to make those
projections and build out those

355
00:23:48,500 --> 00:23:55,000
models and they should really
be, you know, in a position to

356
00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:00,100
say what would work best for us
in terms of how we probably

357
00:24:00,100 --> 00:24:03,400
raising money, right?
That's a good advice.

358
00:24:03,700 --> 00:24:08,400
So here, I want to talk a little
bit about your own Angel

359
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:09,200
Investing.
Experience.

360
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:15,500
So you have a lot to do with
stirrups and you've said that

361
00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:19,100
you're really love this field.
So you've invested in starts

362
00:24:19,100 --> 00:24:21,600
yourself, right?
Can, can you tell us a bit

363
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,400
about?
What do you like to invest in

364
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,100
what we're looking for?
How would you invest?

365
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:32,000
Yeah.
So I guess I'm fairly new, you

366
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:37,500
know, but probably been in this
position for the last two years

367
00:24:37,500 --> 00:24:42,900
or so.
And I consider myself kind of a

368
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,700
micro investor.
I am a part of a fund called

369
00:24:47,700 --> 00:24:56,500
opener dot BC and their strategy
is to exchange services in lieu

370
00:24:56,500 --> 00:24:59,900
of compensation or in lieu of
capital for Equity.

371
00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:07,300
So their model again is kind of
Aggregating, all of the needs

372
00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:11,300
that you have at as an early
stage startup, like marketing

373
00:25:11,300 --> 00:25:18,500
and developers and engineers and
lawyers and all that kind of

374
00:25:18,500 --> 00:25:23,200
packaging, it added value and
providing it in exchange for a

375
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,600
certain percentage of a
start-up.

376
00:25:26,100 --> 00:25:30,000
So there's that side of my
experience and kind of where I'm

377
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,800
heading and building that out
more currently.

378
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:39,100
It's Its focus more on, on the
Middle East, and Europe and

379
00:25:39,100 --> 00:25:42,300
North Africa as far as startup
companies.

380
00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:45,900
But they're potentially, some
point going to move into the us

381
00:25:45,900 --> 00:25:51,100
as well.
And then for myself just kind of

382
00:25:51,100 --> 00:26:00,200
was in a micro angel investor I
typically typically look at sort

383
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:06,900
of the team how serious the And
what they're doing and really

384
00:26:06,900 --> 00:26:09,900
whether they're giving their all
and what they're doing.

385
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,600
I tend to focus on some areas
that I'm more familiar and then

386
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,100
some of the areas or Industries
and sectors that I'm not as

387
00:26:19,100 --> 00:26:21,500
familiar.
So I tend to invest into or look

388
00:26:21,500 --> 00:26:25,800
at a lot of legal Tech startups
and some of the other ones that

389
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:34,200
I've invested into our in
Aerospace products, as well as

390
00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:41,800
as one that is in the renewable
energy evaporative cooling space

391
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:47,100
as well as which I this is a lot
of science fair and I kind of

392
00:26:47,100 --> 00:26:50,700
want to be and so that's how I
put my foot in the door like dip

393
00:26:50,700 --> 00:26:55,100
my foot into being a part of the
discussions and and it just

394
00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:58,900
makes me very excited so but I
don't profess to know nothing

395
00:26:58,900 --> 00:27:01,700
about him just like oh yeah that
sounds amazing you know some of

396
00:27:01,700 --> 00:27:05,600
it is just got it and it's not
even based on Any other factors,

397
00:27:06,900 --> 00:27:10,800
but having, you know, having a
team that does team team, team

398
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:14,900
team team, and so many for me.
And so many of these situations

399
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,200
having a team that does their
homework.

400
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:25,500
That doesn't come with sort of
these again like again during

401
00:27:25,500 --> 00:27:31,600
the Ico phase of the blockchain
world and 2017.

402
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,700
You would have every other
person coming into my My office

403
00:27:34,700 --> 00:27:37,200
saying oh yeah this is the next
best thing.

404
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,200
We're going to be printing money
and we're going to be buying

405
00:27:39,900 --> 00:27:43,200
yachts and Island.
And so as soon as like somebody

406
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,300
is already there without
actually being passionate about

407
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:51,600
whatever they're building like I
just by totally dismissed that I

408
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:55,500
like I can't see them seriously
and so God that's right.

409
00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:59,400
Yes.
Teams that have been through a

410
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:04,900
an accelerator like techstars or
Y combinator or Startups or

411
00:28:04,900 --> 00:28:08,700
whoever you know whoever else
right now is is is doing a good

412
00:28:08,700 --> 00:28:14,600
job with I or an incubator also
are sort of prioritize because

413
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,400
they've gone through the
mentoring and the

414
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:21,700
conceptualization they've
thought about their product from

415
00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:25,700
multiple different perspectives.
So there are just a lot more

416
00:28:25,700 --> 00:28:28,900
mature even though they're
really still be early stage

417
00:28:28,900 --> 00:28:31,400
company.
That's a good point that's a

418
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,700
good point.
Big benefit of going through

419
00:28:33,700 --> 00:28:40,000
accelerator incubator or
anything similar so yeah we'll

420
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,200
have to wrap it up soon.
So last question that trying to

421
00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:48,600
ask all my speakers what should
first three steps at the founder

422
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,600
should take to get to the first
check from investor?

423
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,000
The first three steps.
Three steps that have Founders.

424
00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:02,500
It take to get to get that
second build out your network.

425
00:29:02,700 --> 00:29:07,600
That's the number one step and
whatever that takes to build

426
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,800
that a network, whether it's
virtually or once we can all see

427
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:12,800
each other.
In person again, is going to

428
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:18,600
meet ups number to create a
brand for yourself as a Founder.

429
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,500
This is kind of a marketing
Tech, right?

430
00:29:21,500 --> 00:29:25,400
Have somebody girls, you make
sure that the content or the

431
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,000
information available about you
fits into the direction that

432
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:38,200
you're trying to go.
And number three is make, make

433
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,600
sure that you know to the level
that you're able to you have

434
00:29:42,700 --> 00:29:46,500
sophistication and kind of
finesse around what you're

435
00:29:46,500 --> 00:29:52,800
sharing, right, that you're not.
There's a certain air of of kind

436
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:56,600
of Being cultured and us around,
like, on the one hand, balancing

437
00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:03,300
being assertive and going for
what you want, and being not as

438
00:30:03,300 --> 00:30:05,700
cannot quite as pussy, and in
your face, and doing it in a way

439
00:30:05,700 --> 00:30:08,800
that, you know, when you are
sending somebody your pitch that

440
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,600
you're sending something that's,
you know, probably needs more

441
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,400
iterations down the line, but is
in pretty solid shape.

442
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,000
Like don't you get judged by
those kind of things if you're

443
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,200
sending a quick stuff and there
are mistakes and spelling

444
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:26,500
mistakes And things don't align,
you know, that just build that

445
00:30:26,500 --> 00:30:30,600
build that out and and don't do
it kind of in a cocky way,

446
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,700
right?
That's a good way.

447
00:30:32,700 --> 00:30:37,200
It's always proofread because
once I personally see it a typo

448
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,100
on a beach day, I'm like, okay,
it's if a person didn't take

449
00:30:40,100 --> 00:30:42,400
quite five minutes to read
through these, why should I take

450
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:44,800
my five minutes to read through
this right?

451
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,400
All right on this this this was
a great app is a real loved it.

452
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:52,800
Tons of great specific advice
from legal side and there are so

453
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,500
Much more topic.
So many more idea.

454
00:30:55,500 --> 00:30:57,500
Even say that, right?
No, I didn't.

455
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,800
Anyways, I'm Russian I have a
right to do that.

456
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:06,500
So There are much timid.
I'm still tried are many, many

457
00:31:06,500 --> 00:31:09,800
more may meaning.
We're thank you so much your

458
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:12,200
Russian as well, but you have
more experience, you know, and

459
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:13,600
English.
So, thank you.

460
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,600
Thank you for helping out a
fellow Russian.

461
00:31:16,700 --> 00:31:19,000
There are many.
Many more topics for us is

462
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,500
because on the legal side.
So there there is a high chance

463
00:31:22,500 --> 00:31:26,600
of us creating several
educational episodes, focusing

464
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:31,000
on some specific fields of legal
side of fundraising.

465
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:35,000
So look out to those.
Al's educational episodes with

466
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,500
Eve much Nick.
Thanks again you for taking your

467
00:31:38,500 --> 00:31:42,000
time for participating on this
and have a great week.

468
00:31:42,300 --> 00:31:44,500
Yeah thank you for having me.
This is great.