View All Blog Posts

Justyn Kasierski Talks Biggest Legal Mistakes in Your Startup

Every day at Hutchison, we work with founders and entrepreneurs as they fight and grind and stress and push to bring their visions to reality. There are several ups and downs in this process and we have seen first-hand how some of the mistakes startups can make might set them back or cause legal issues. 

In the latest Founders Shares episode, we brought on Justyn Kasierski, one of the partners at Hutchison. Justyn is one of our corporate attorneys who provides startups with guidance on a wide range of issues such as formations, financing, exits and more. 

In this episode, we talk about some of those legal mistakes we see startups making and how you can prevent them in your startup. 

 

Justyn said some mistakes can start as early as when you write down an idea on the back of a cocktail napkin at happy hour or think of the ingenious idea in your dorm room late at night. The first thing you want to look for once you have your idea is if it is venturable. 

He mentioned how you have to ask yourself, “Are you looking to do something that a VC would be interested in funding? Is it a big idea with a big market?” There are a lot of ideas out there, but not all of them are always venturable. 

Justyn also explained how sometimes “founder teams” come to him and are filled with people who just met a few weeks ago, which sometimes leads to a tricky situation because of the lack of cohesion between the members. Moreover, he said it’s important to ask if they “have had discussions about allocations of responsibility and allocations of even founder ownership and things like that.” 

If they haven’t, then these are the kinds of things that Justyn helps situate. There are so many minuscule details and parts of planning that can get lost along the way because, oftentimes, people get an epiphany and run with it. 

Making sure that you look at VC, if people will even want to invest, how this idea will flourish in the future, how you plan on de-risking the team, market and technology and so much more all play a huge role in creating a successful startup. 

Hutchison and venture attorneys like Justyn are here to help you make sure your startup is successful and to ensure you do not make the same mistakes that we have seen happen in the past. When going into this experimental field, it is important to get help from those who can support you and ensure you take a few steps forward rather than backward. 

So whether you already are an entrepreneur, have an idea that someday you want to start a business or are just fascinated by the stories of how a business goes from idea to success… or not such a success, this podcast is for you. Listen to our episode with Justyn and check out our other episodes with more inspiring guests. 

The blog content should not be construed as legal advice.