Does Pandora’s Lukewarm IPO Foreshadow Groupon’s Fate?

After filing for an IPO in Februrary, 2011, streaming music company Pandora went public on June 15, 2011 with little fanfare.  In contrast to LinkedIn which went public last month with a soaring valuation, Pandora’s valuation has been largely as expected.  Off the heels of LinkedIn, this could be seen as disappointing. 

Microsoft Buys Skype, Obtains FTC Approval

Microsoft made the headlines on May 10, 2011, when it acquired videoconferencing giant Skype for a reported $ 8.5 billion.  Following the antitrust procedure of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, the companies filed a pre-acquisition notification to the various government bodies, required before the deal can be finalized. 

Trading on the Secondary Market

In recent years, the secondary market for stocks – a platform through which investors can buy and trade shares of private companies – has grown exponentially in size and use.  This year,    transactions on the online platforms of SharesPost and SecondMarket alone have totaled over $ 4.6 billion, and are projected to exceed $ 6.9 billion next year. This does not include the much larger volume of trading by traditional broker-dealers and financial advisers, or other online platforms. 

ICANN Approves Open Season on new gTLDs for 2013

On June 20, 2011, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved a new generic top-level domain (gTLD) program, first introduced in 2008.  The program will greatly increase the number of gTLDs allowed for use on the internet, which is currently limited to 22 (such as .com, .org, and .net). 

Interpreting the Startup Visa Act

On March 14, 2011, Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar introduced a bill titled the Startup Visa Act of 2011, which is an updated version of a 2010 bill.  If passed, the act would provide temporary work visas to various kinds of foreign workers if certain financial benchmarks are met.

5 Tips for Finding a Good Patent Attorney

In order to be commercially successful, ideas need to be properly developed and marketed and team and execution are usually the most important factors.  However, protecting the idea with available intellectual property rights is often a critical initial step and typically requires preparing, filing and prosecuting one or more patent applications. Deciding which <a href="http://www.rimonlaw.com">law firm</a> or patent attorney to work with is often a challenge. 


 

How To Pick Your Company’s Legal Representation

The inclination when looking for a lawyer is always to start with big firms.  They are well-established in most cities, and connote a certain amount of prestige.  There is also still some truth in that big firms recruit the best and brightest from law schools, and thus produce better work product for you. 

There are however, many alternatives to a big firm when retaining legal representation, each with their own strengths and weaknesses: boutique firms, solo practitioners, and hiring a general counsel.  

Twitter to Stay in San Francisco: Future Tax Breaks for Tech Companies?

Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to give Twitter a 6 year break from the city’s 1.5% payroll tax – which also extends to stock options – to prevent them from leaving, losing their tax revenues, and to promote job creation in the city. 

The Rise of Disruptive Technologies

New York City – At the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference 2011, the startup Getaround beat out 32 other startups to win the Disrupt Cup, in addition to $ 50,000 and exponential media (read: investor) exposure.  Before getting into the paradigm shifting virtues of Getaround however, it would be worthwhile to explain exactly what it means to “disrupt” something in the startup context.

LinkedIn IPO Far Exceeds Expected Valuation; May be Boon for Secondary Markets

Recently, LinkedIn went public.  LinkedIn is a professional social networking website with over 100 million users, as both alternative and companion to market-dominant Facebook.