Alert – Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Threshold Increase
The HSR Act requires that parties to a merger and acquisition transaction (which includes more than you might think), file with the Federal Trade Commission and US DOJ and deal with a waiting period if the transaction or parties (or both) are above certain thresholds (and does not fall within an exemption). The FTC’s legally… View Article
Posted on Tuesday, February 4th, 2020
Red Flags from Employees
Minnesota Employers Should Call Their Attorney Immediately if They See One of these Red Flags Minnesota laws impose many requirements on employers. Concerns about violating these laws can keep a business owner up at night. Without an audit by an experienced employment law attorney, employers are often operating in the dark and may fail to… View Article
Posted on Monday, January 20th, 2020
Happy New Year – Reminder: The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is Now in Effect
Perhaps you saw the warnings throughout 2019 regarding the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) going into effect on January 1, 2020. Maybe you also saw that the CCPA applies to a large swath of companies throughout the world, including many companies with no physical presence in California. The steep penalties for non-compliance with the CCPA,… View Article
Posted on Wednesday, January 1st, 2020
Labor Law Alert
Tesla, Inc. and the National Labor Relations Act: A Reminder that Labor Law Applies to Nearly All Employers If you think your business is immune from unions and union laws because you have not signed a collective bargaining agreement – think again. Many small to medium sized businesses believe they cannot be charged with violating… View Article
Posted on Saturday, December 14th, 2019
Employers Beware: Minnesota Increases Enforcement and Penalties for Wage Theft
On August 1, 2019, Minnesota added new laws, and amended existing laws, to curb wage theft. In addition to increasing the penalties for wage theft, the changes require employers to provide specific notices to their employees and to maintain additional records in their personnel files. These new laws also provide $3.1 million in funding to… View Article
Posted on Monday, September 9th, 2019
10 Common Items to Consider When Exiting a Business
Exiting or selling a business can be a risky and uncertain endeavor. There are myriad advisors, consultants and other service providers around to give you advice. A wise seller will always consider the source to make sure the advice provided is in the seller’s best interests. Also, because advice can vary between different types of… View Article
Posted on Monday, June 17th, 2019
Funding Sources: Differences between Venture Capital and Angel Investors
For startups it’s important to understand the differences between funding from venture capital firms and angel investors. This article takes a look at these differences and discusses some of the mistakes that startups make when securing funding. The differences between VCs and angels are nuanced, but typically, there are some fairly common differences between these… View Article
Posted on Monday, June 25th, 2018
83(b) Elections for Startups (avoiding ordinary income tax)
Most startups don’t have the need to wrestle with the problem of having too much cash. Usually, quite the opposite is true – they have too little. To compensate for this lack of cash, startups may try to pay employees and contractors (“service providers”) using equity incentives instead of cash. For example, let’s say a… View Article
Posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2016
The Perils of Disclosure for Startups
Startups generally have an idea, connections, or talent, or some combination thereof. To be sure, there are plenty of startups out there doing what everyone else is doing – another landscaping company, another food truck, etc. But there are plenty of startups that are experimenting with disruption and “something different.” These latter startups have greater… View Article
Posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2015
Letters of Intent – Don’t Give Away More than You Bargained For
When I was younger, I believed letters of intent were a waste of time. I would say “just give me a purchase agreement with all of the proposed terms so we know the full scope of the deal.” I’ve since come to realize that a comprehensive letter of intent or “LOI” is a great way… View Article
Posted on Sunday, August 9th, 2015