Birth to Buyout

Birth to Buyout: Law for the Life Cycle of Your Business gives you a straightforward, easy-to-grasp understanding of the business law questions and answers you need to run your business and prosper. Packed with refreshingly candid information, Birth to Buyout tackles business law topics in terms you can understand.

LIKE CARRYING AROUND YOUR OWN BUSINESS LAWYER, BUT WITHOUT ALL THE TALKING AND BILLS. Birth to Buyout gives you a straightforward, easy-to-grasp understanding of the business law questions and answers you need to run your business and prosper. Packed with refreshingly candid information, Birth to Buyout tackles business law topics in terms you can understand. Organized to guide you through all stages of your business - from Birth to Buyout - you learn: SET UP A COMPANY * The difference between Corporations, S-Corporations and Limited Liability Companies * How to pick the right entity for you * Where you should set up your company * How to pick a company name * What to take to the bank when you set up your company bank account * What to put in your business plan YOU AND YOUR PARTNERS * The big conversation you and your partners need to have at the beginning of your venture * Picking officers, officer titles and salaries * How to make sure you can get out when you want * How to kick out another owner * Setting up your Board of Directors * Dangers of serving on the Board * How to be a great Board member GETTING FUNDED * The difference between debt and equity * What investors expect from you * The parts of an investment deal * How to divide control between founders and investors * Securities laws * Sources of debt financing * Parts of a loan * Building business credit INTERNET CONTRACTS * What you need to put in your website privacy policy and Terms of Use * Avoiding liability from user generated content * Kids information under COPPA OFFICE LEASE * Negotiating the rent * Difference among net leases, double net and triple net leases EMPLOYEES & INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS * What goes in an employment contract * Noncompetes * Union contracts and collective bargaining * Nondiscrimination laws * Screening candidates, including immigration forms * How to follow rules about minimum wage and overtime and payroll INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY * Trademark * Copyright * Patent * How to get the rights through licensing or buying the IP MANUFACTURING * How to plan your whole manufacturing and fulfillment process * How to get a prototype made * How to discover the regulations you have to know about and follow * How to hire a manufacturer SALES AND MARKETING * How to get your product sold * Distribution channel options * Advertising and promotions * How to comply with advertising laws * What goes into your contract with distributors or sales agents * CanSpam and telemarketing rules GETTING PROTECTION AGAINST LIABILITY * Contracts * Insurance and Bonds * Vigilant Due Diligence GETTING RICH * Valuing a business * Valuing stock * Process of selling your company * Term Sheets * Representations and Warranties * Closing * Post closing * Tips to make for a peaceful sale AND, THERE'S A STORY - MEET HAP, HAZARD AND A LAWYER NAMED GRAVITY. Birth to Buyout is not just a business law almanac. Birth to Buyout spins forward on the story of two cubicle workers who make a run for entrepreneurship just as big corporate culture is closing in, all with the help of their corporate lawyer (if you just want the law, you can skip the story pages). Birth to Buyout was written to be an easy-to-follow guide to business law. That's why: * All explanations are in plain English * Charts and diagrams are used to make the law clear * The book celebrates American entrepreneurship and how it can truly set you free

Coco Soodek has worked in “Big Law” for 16 years, helping businesses navigate legal risks, obligations and opportunities. With broad experience as outside general counsel to a wide variety of companies, Coco helps craft and complete business deals in art, advertising, stage, trade and rock shows, and digital media, as well as steel, manufacturing, trucking, warehousing and consumer electronics. In 2007, Coco established the Bryan Cave Art Law Team, and Bryan Cave’s first blog at www.artlawteam.com, which she continues to lead. She serves as Chair Emeritus for the Midwest Board of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute, a prominent scientific research institute in Israel. In 2009, Coco was honored to make “40 Under 40” in Crain’s Chicago Business – an annual list naming outstanding young professionals to watch. She has also been admitted as a Fellow to the American Bar Association. Coco frequently speaks about art law and not-for-profit legal issues, teaches a business law boot camp based on Birth to Buyout, and currently hosts The Profit and Laws Radio Hour – a show dedicated to helping entrepreneurs navigate business – on the national Lifestyle Talk Radio Network. Additionally, she operates www.profitandlaws.com, a blog on legal and business issues. Coco has been admitted to practice law in Illinois since 1997, immediately following graduation from Northwestern University School of Law.