Stubbs Alderton & Markiles and the Preccelerator Program are proud to announce the launch of their Startup Superhero Video Series - featuring SA&M Attorneys, Preccelerator Mentors, and entrepreneurs on topics specific to entrepreneurship and lessons learned throughout the journey.

This week we're featuring SA&M Managing Partner Scott Alderton as he chats about "How to Position Your Company for Financing."  Scott is the Co-Chair of the Venture Capital & Emerging Growth practice at Stubbs Alderton, General Partner of SAM CREATV Ventures, and a thought leader in the startup financing space.

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Transcript

Heidi: Tell me a little bit about your practice and experience and what you love most about working with emerging growth companies?

Scott: Sure, I have been doing this for a long time. My practice is broad-ranging. Early on in my career, I was more of a corporate & securities lawyer doing traditional SEC type of work with larger companies. As this thing called the “Internet” began to develop in the '90s, it looked like it was interesting, I transitioned my practice to being more of a technology and venture capital lawyer. I really like working with companies all along their evolutionary path, but I really like working with early-stage companies. They have diverse, wide-ranging needs, they typically don’t have the resources that large companies have. I feel like I can play a vital role as an advisor even more-so than a lawyer. The lawyering part is the easy job to me, the advising part is really the fun part.

Heidi: Let’s talk a little bit about emerging growth companies and how they approach financing. What are some of the things an early stage company should be thinking about when they are going for funding. If they are really early, how do they attract investors?

Scott: I think it's really a couple of things. The first thing that every company needs to do is to decide what its vision is and what kind of company it's going to be. Venture capital is not right for every company and there’s lots of different ways to fund your businesses. The overwhelming majority of businesses do not get funded with venture capital. Venture capital is a way of financing a business through its growth stage. When it has a proven product, when it's found its market and when it now needs to scale and grow. That’s when venture capital comes in and helps a company do that, but to get to that point is challenging. First you need to decide; am I a company that is going to require venture capital and am I company that is going to address a large scaling market, be disruptive, grow to be very large? That’s a venture fundable business.  Through the early stage, the second thing you need to figure out is  - how am I going to get to the point where professional investors are going to be interested in me? Professional investors are not going to be interested in every company like I said they are going to be interested in companies where they can apply their capital, grow and scale the business.

Heidi: As far as some of the tips that you would give to them, for them to actually attract investors - where do they look for them? Are warm introductions the best thing? What are some of the tactics?

Scott: First of all, don’t look too early. Understand that if you are really going out and seeking traditional, professional investment that you are going to have to have some metrics. You’re going to have to have at least a MVP of a product, you’re going to find a market where that product is being accepted. You are growing and scaling a business in that market. Whether its users or customers - whatever it is - you have to get to that stage first. How do you get to that stage? Well, you get to that stage by raising money from friends and family, from people who know you. From people that are going to invest in you, because you’re the entrepreneur. They believe in you. Relatives, friends, strategic business partners. A second way to look at that is for people who ultimately will be interested in your product, even though you have no metrics or proof of your product today. They will invest in you because they want your product to hit the market. Might be a strategic investment. Figure out a way - come hook or crook-  to raise that initial capital to where you can develop your product. Find a market place and the other doors will open.

Heidi: From a legal and business stand-point, how do they best position themselves?

Scott: Early stage companies by necessity cut corners, right? You don’t have resources. You’re boot strapping. You’re making promises that you can’t fully document. You can’t always afford lawyers or professional advisers and that’s fine. Do not second guess any of that. You got to where you are, but when you reach that point where you are now ready to go out and find professional capital, it's important to look internally first. That you look at yourself, do the same kind of diligence with yourself that an investor is going to do on you. That way there are no surprises. Figure out capital issues and fix them. Figure out your employment issues and fix them. Figure out your commercial contracts that you have done on a whim and fix them. So that investors don’t look at you and think good concept, but I am not going to take all this risk.

Heidi: There’s another topic that startups tend to think a lot about but aren't typically fully  educated on - how should they approach valuation and dilution?

Scott: I think that people get hung up on valuation because they have some number set in their mind or they have some experience that they talk about with other entrepreneurs. They think they either have to hang on to a certain percentage of their business or it’s not appropriate to give a certain amount at a certain round. You have to come into a financial transaction with an open mind and understand not just what you’re selling and what you have to give up for that. Also, where you are going and where that money is going to take you? I see entrepreneurs being penny wise and a pound foolish all the time. They think they don’t want to be significantly diluted. They end up throwing a wrench in the negotiation  or they loose a financing deal because they want to hang on to a few points of equity. In reality that money is going to take them so far that they are going to be vast and more valuable. Its a simple proposition of - there’s a pie and you want a piece of that pie. It's much better to own a smaller piece of a gigantic pie than it is to own a big piece of a small pie.

Heidi: Appreciate you for being here and I’m sure we will have you back for other topics some time soon.

Scott: Thanks, looking forward to it.

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To learn more about our Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Practice, contact Scott Alderton at .

Stubbs Alderton & Markiles’ client NEOGOV, the leading talent management software platform focused on government, education and public sector clients announced that Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing has invested in them. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2000, NEOGOV provides market-leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) talent management solutions to automate and streamline the recruitment, onboarding and performance evaluation processes for government and other public sector institutions. NEOGOV’s software is designed specifically for the unique human capital management requirements of these complex and regulated end-markets and serves more than 1,500 organizations including over 40% of the largest U.S. cities and more than 20 state customers.

“The team at NEOGOV has built the leading provider of human capital management software to the public sector,” said Alex Berzofsky, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus. “We are excited to invest in the company and partner with the NEOGOV management team as they continue to broaden the product platform and identify additional opportunities to serve their large and growing customer base.”

“Warburg Pincus has deep experience in cloud-based software and the firm will be a valuable partner as we continue to focus on growing our whole talent management suite tailored for the local government sector,” said Damir Davidovic, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NEOGOV. “With this investment, we plan to enhance our product offerings, serve more customers and accelerate the growth of the business.”

“As more companies continue to use SaaS-based systems to deliver HR solutions, we see a significant growth opportunity for NEOGOV given it is configurable specifically for the needs of the public sector, where fewer organizations have adopted these technologies,” said Brian Chang, Principal, Warburg Pincus.

Stubbs Alderton attorneys representing NEOGOV in this deal were Sean Greaney and Scott Alderton.

About NEOGOV
NEOGOV HR software automates the entire hiring, onboarding and performance evaluation process, including position requisition approval, automatic minimum qualification screening, test statistics and analysis, and EEO reporting. NEOGOV works with more than 1,500 federal, state and local government, universities and K-12 organizations nationwide, ranging in size from 100 to over 100,000 employees, including agencies such as the State of South Carolina, the State of Tennessee, City of Dallas, TX; City of Houston, TX; Baltimore County, MD; City and County of Denver, CO; City and County of Honolulu, HI; City of Nashville, TN; and more than 25% of California’s Counties, including Santa Clara County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, Los Angeles County, and Orange County. Because NEOGOV’s solutions are both easy-to-use and fast to implement, it is able to offer a public sector model that is low risk, but offers a high ROI at the same time.

About Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $40 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm’s active portfolio of more than 120 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 15 private equity funds, which have invested more than $58 billion in over 760 companies in more than 40 countries. Warburg Pincus has been an active investor in SaaS companies, with current investments including The Gordian Group, DocuTAP, Liaison International, PayScale, and Avalara, among others.

About Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP
Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP is a business law firm with robust corporate, public securities, mergers and acquisitions, entertainment, intellectual property, brand protection and business litigation practice groups focusing on the representation of, among others, venture backed emerging growth companies, middle market public companies, large technology companies, entertainment and digital media companies, investors, venture capital funds, investment bankers and underwriters. The firm’s clients represent the full spectrum of Southern California business with a concentration in the technology, entertainment, videogame, apparel and medical device sectors. Our mission is to provide technically excellent legal services in a consistent, highly-responsive and service-oriented manner with an entrepreneurial and practical business perspective. These principles are the hallmarks of our Firm. www.stubbsalderton.com

For more information about our Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Practice, contact Sean Greaney at or (818) 444-4554

SAM client Finny announced the completion of an initial funding round of $300k that includes participation from Spartan Ventures, Inc. (www.spartanventures.com) and several angel investors.  "We are very excited to be able to support Finny -- a socially responsible and quite frankly, necessary tool for the benefit of our most prized possessions -- our children,” said Reg Lapham, Spartan’s President. Finny's parental engagement platform is the first mobile solution that turns screen time into learning moments. An increasingly valuable need as research continues to prove that device addiction is causing serious academic, social, and medical issues that are affecting today’s youth.

Targeted to 7-14 year olds, Finny monitors unproductive device usage and interrupts by triggering a custom quiz. Whether reinforcing traditional academic subjects or introducing new topics, the content library contains over 15,000 questions across a range of categories (Math, Science, Current Events, etc.). Through a comprehensive dashboard, parents can customize settings, receive real-time report cards, and gain visibility into their child’s device usage.

"This is the perfect tool to engage with your child and improve mobile habits.”
– Professor Eric Curcio, MD UCLA Pediatrics

The company, based in Santa Monica, California, intends to use the funds for continued product enhancements while igniting marketing efforts. They are focused on building out a powerful influencer network to drive awareness and legitimize messaging. Currently available for download on Google Play and with iOS scheduled for early 2016, Finny is ready to begin driving change by making device usage productive.

Follow along and join the movement, as everyone’s participation is important to combat the magnitude of the problem.

SAM Partner Louis Wharton represented Finny in this transaction.  For more information about our Venture Capital & Emerging Growth practice, contact Louis at

Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP announced that it advised stealth startup Linqia in its first round of funding, pulling in $3.4 million. Javelin Venture Partners' managing director, Jed Katz led the round.  To view the full VentureBeat article about the funding, click here.

Linqia which has been in stealth mode since 2011, is a marketing platform that makes it easy for community leaders to earn money from trusted brands for sharing authentic stories. They review every campaign to ensure the brand’s story is built on relevant and quality content. When a brand partner thinks your community is a good fit, you make the choice to run the campaign and decide how and where you’ll share the story with your community.

Linqia’s cofounders are Australian entrepreneur Maria Sipka, formerly the COO for XING, the European social network for businesses; and Nader Alizadeh, the former cofounder and SVP of Sales for Lithium Technology.

The Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP counsel advising Linqia in the transaction were Kevin DeBré, partner and chair of the Intellectual Property Practice Group, Louis Wharton, partner and Sean Greaney, associate.