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Startup & Accelerate

Let’s get going! Welcome to Startup & Accelerate, our resource center of analyses and thinking related to your startup and how you can quickly begin moving your venture forward. Our guidance is applicable to a variety of industries, such as technology, life sciences, fintech, esports, digital health, and renewable energy, to name a few. We continuously post new materials, so check back often.

The Basics

Avoiding a Taxing Situation: Considerations for Your Startup

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Topics include:

Tax considerations for your startup
Tips to guide you through important taxation matters
Common pitfalls

Biotechnology, Medical Device, and Other Life Sciences Emerging Companies – Legal Strategies and Venture Capital Financing and Market Trends

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Topics include:

Background on the biotech, pharma and medical device industry
Intellectual property, partnerships and collaborations
Venture capital investments

Emerging Company Key Considerations for AI

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Topics include:

AI overview
Regulatory framework
IP considerations
Data privacy and security
Employment matters
Contracting, M&A and investments

Evolving Market Terms for Venture Capital Investments: Summary of NVCA Model Legal Documents Recent Updates

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Topics include:

Why do the NVCA documents matter to founders and companies
Why do the NVCA documents matter to investors and stockholders
Recent updates

Get Up and Go: Navigating Startup Issues

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Topics include:

Timely subjects and tips to guide you through important formation matters
Business entity selection, agreements among founders, early-stage financing structures, and advice for avoiding common mistakes

Key Beginning Documents: Founders’ Agreements, Seed Financing, Convertible Notes and SAFEs

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Topics include:

Key issues and terms relevant to a founder’s agreements, seed financing, convertible notes, and SAFEs
Matters including protecting intellectual property assets and merger and acquisition agreements

Legal Issues for Forming a Global Start-up

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Topics include:

Incorporation process, protecting intellectual property assets, financing alternatives, and M&A aspects to consider during the early-stage phase

Making a Clean Start: Avoiding Common Legal Mistakes Made by Life Science Entrepreneurs

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Topics include:

How to make a clean start
Avoiding common legal mistakes made by life science entrepreneurs

Economic Development & Investment Group’s Small Business Toolkit: Mobilizing for Equality

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Topics include:

An easy-to-read checklist and other resources essential for any startup

GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION/REGULATION

Paycheck Protection Program - Round 2: Key Considerations for Businesses Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act

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Topics include:

The extension and expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
The PPP Second Draw program
Key provisions and guidance for businesses seeking to participate in the revived PPP under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

Part 2: Understanding the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program

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Topics include:

Key features of the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act, in addition to recent Small Business Administration guidance

Open for Business: Your Startup and Government Contracts

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Topics include:

The government contract process and making sure that your company is set up for success
Federal marketplace, contract types, government opportunities, and important government contract issues and considerations

CFIUS Concerns in Life Science Investment and Venture Capital Transactions

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Topics include:

The potential for Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) issues in transactions involving a foreign person and a US business
Unique CFIUS concerns for life sciences transactions

CARES Act: Key Takeaways for the Technology Industry

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Topics include:

Aims of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to offer economic relief to companies and their employees
How the CARES ACT doesn’t expressly provide industry-specific relief, but many provisions impact the technology industry

Spending Bill Revives Paycheck Protection Program for US Small Businesses

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Topics include:

The stimulus package tied to the Consolidated Appropriations Act
Key provisions and guidance for businesses seeking to participate in the Paycheck Protection Program
A Review of recent federal government programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program

Funds for the Operation

Debt Financing for Early-Stage Ventures

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Topics include:

Key term sheet issues and strategic considerations for early-stage ventures to consider when evaluating raising funds

Down Rounds, Recaps and Pay to Play Provisions: Embracing Venture Capital Financing Strategies for Emerging Companies in a Challenging Fundraising Climate

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Topics include:

Market overview and causes of down rounds
Recap key economic considerations
Fiduciary duties

Evolving Market Terms for Venture Capital Investments: Trade Association Updates Standards, New Jersey Lawyer

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Topics include:

Updates to the National Venture Capital Association’s primary model legal documents—which include a term sheet, certificate of incorporation, stock purchase agreement, investor’s rights agreement, voting agreement, and right of first refusal and co-sale agreement

Get an Edge: Understanding Seed Financing Terms and Structures

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Topics include:

Various deal structures frequently used in seed financings
Range of market terms for deal structures

50-50 Startups: Introduction to Key Legal and Financing Basics

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Topics include:

Lifeline of a company, common legal mistakes, and preparing for due diligence
Financing basics, forms of investment, and impact investing

Know Your Next Steps - Later Stage/Preferred Stock Financing

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Topics include:

Various deal structures frequently used for later stage and preferred stock financings
Market terms for later stage and preferred stock financings

Making the Most of Your Round – Preferred Stock Financing Topics
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Topics include:

Guidance investment options and advantages and pitfalls
Key issues and terms relevant to a Series Seed or Series A preferred stock investment

Negotiating a JDA Term Sheet or Partnership Agreement as Part of CVC Financing

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Topics include:

How joint development agreements should be negotiated
Key issues necessary to establish between parties
Red flags to note

Preparing a Venture Capital Term Sheet

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Topics include:

How a term sheet is structured
Key definitions and classifications

Raising Capital During this Unique Time in History

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Topics include:

What investors are looking for and how entrepreneurs can best navigate raising capital

Seed Financing and Early Stage Financing for Startups: Introduction to Angels, SAFEs, Convertible Notes and Venture Capital

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Topics include:

Investors and their preferences
Possible deal structures

Staying in the Fight: Getting Your Company through the Down Round to the Next Round of Financing

Read the Insight >>

Topics include:

Recent down round trends
Alternatives to a down round
Down round implementation
Fiduciary duties and legal requirements
Recaps and pay to plays

Structuring Venture Capital Financing: Amended NVCA Model Agreements

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Topics include:

Early stage financing
Venture capital deal structures
Special issues when dealing with strategic corporate investors

Understanding Venture Debt: Exploring Options for Growth

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Topics Include:

Understanding venture debt and how it can drive business growth

What Asian Investors in US Life Sciences Startups Should Know

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Topics include:

Intellectual Property
Day to Day Oversight
CFIUS

Angels in the Startups

Angel Investing as a Funding Source

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Topics include:

An overview of angel investing
Ways to make the funding relationship between angel investors and entrepreneurs mutually beneficial

How to Become Touched by an Angel

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Topics include:

What angel investors are
Why ventures seek angels investors
What angels investors look for in investments

Making Angel Investing a Win-Win Experience

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Topics include:

Tactics to make the funding relationship between angel investors and entrepreneurs mutually beneficial

Getting Industry Focused

Early Stage Planning in Privately-Held US Life Sciences Companies

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Topics include:

Investing in life sciences companies, including entity selection
Investing in C-corporations
Forms of investment
Preferred stock financing

Bank Partnerships with & Investments in Fintech Companies

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Topics include:

Discussion of the US regulatory framework governing partnerships
Focus on investments in fintech firms by banks, bank holding companies, and their nonbank affiliates—e.g., bank-affiliated broker-dealers, asset management firms, and private equity and venture funds

Seed Financing Structures for Digital Health Companies

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Topics include:

Deal structures frequently used in digital health company seed financings
The range of market terms for each structure

Your Onboarding Operations

Your Team Is Your Foundation: Discussing Your Company's Equity Compensation

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Topics include:

Using artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the search for candidates, screen candidates, and analyze candidates’ skills and aptitudes
The use of AI in recruiting and hiring

AI in Hiring and Recruiting

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Topics include:

Using artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the search for candidates, screen candidates, and analyze candidates’ skills and aptitudes
The use of AI in recruiting and hiring

Building a Team – Employee Onboarding

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Topics include:

Best practices for onboarding
Benefits options available to best suit your business

Risk and Reward: International Tax, Employment and Immigration Considerations in Engaging Contractors in Tech

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Topics include:

Considerations when engaging independent contractors in the United Kingdom
Various risks including the risk of reclassification and potential increased tax and employment right liabilities

Strategies for Success: The Importance of Workplace Culture in Tech

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Topics include:

Importance of workplace culture and values for business success
Diversity, equity, and inclusion; leadership from the top; role modelling; and flexibility in the workplace

What’s in it for the Team and Me? Discussing Your Company’s Equity Compensation

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Topics include:

Determining the right structure for equity compensation
The connection between the entrepreneur and the team

Your Global Talent Pool: Immigration Considerations for US Based Startups

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Topics include:

US visa options, including advantages and challenges
Overview of visa options for Hong Kong and Singapore

Health Focused IP

Computer-Implemented Inventions in Biotechnology and Healthcare, Patentability from European and US Perspective

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Topics include:

The standards for patentability applied by the United States and European patent offices for computer-implemented inventions in biotechnology and healthcare
Insulin dosing regimens, binding affinity prediction, determination of structural variation in nucleic acids, and identifying thermodynamically relevant polymer confirmations

Patents for MedTech AI: Opportunities and Pitfalls

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Topics include:

How to assess the patentability of, and prosecute applications covering, artificial intelligence (AI) functionality embodied in emerging robotic systems

Strengthening Design Patent Portfolios: Strategies for Medical Device Companies

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Topics include:

Reassessing how best to protect, license, and—if necessary—enforce medical device intellectual property due to legislative developments

IP for All Startups

IP Landscape of AI Hardware Startups

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Topics include:

Current trends in hardware technologies for artificial intelligence (AI), and competitive landscape, detail patenting strategies of startups, and alternate intellectual property (IP) strategies adopted by AI hardware startups
Open source, copyright, trade-secret protection, and important practice tips for IP protection

Open Source Software: Risks and Rewards

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Topics include:

Risks in trusting business functions to public code and when mixing open source software with company code
Developing a process to avoid negative consequences of commitment to a particular open-source software solution

Patents and Copyright and AI: Key Issues

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Topics include:

Copyright authorship, registration, and enforcement of copyrights in connection with works created with AI
Review a number of AI content examples and analyze which may be copyrightable and by whom

Patent and Trade Secret Protections for Inventions that Use AI Background in Artificial Intelligence

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Topics include:

Patents, trade secrets, and strengths/weaknesses
General rules for selecting patents or trade secret protection of AI technology
Detection of infringement or misappropriation

Protecting Your IP and Cybersecurity Issues for Your Startup

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Topics include:

Intellectual property (IP) protection and cyber threats to your growing business

Ready for Launch – Protecting Your IP

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Topics include:

The entire process from launch to market
Protecting your brand and technology

Cross-Border Investments

CFIUS and Other Considerations with Foreign Investors

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Topics include:

How startups can successfully address novel issues when considering noncontrolling investments from foreign investors, which may affect your fundraising options

Cross-Border Issues: Compliance, Employment, and What Could Possibly Go Wrong in M&A Transactions

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Topics include:

Cross-border matters in M&A transactions with a focus on China
Developments in employment and compliance, including data protection, the unreliable entities list, antitrust, and the social credit system

Making the Most of Cross-Border Deals in an Era of Heightened Regulatory Risk

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Topics include:

Key cross-border regulatory issues as they may affect M&A transactions
Risk-based due diligence, key diligence questions, considerations for buyers and sellers, and issues to consider in Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and national security-related transactions

M&A Considerations within CFIUS & Trade Regulation

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Topics include:

Risk-based due diligence
Key diligence questions
Considerations for buyers and sellers
Issues to consider in CFIUS and national security-related transactions

M&A Practice in the UK and the US: A Comparison (And Some Observations on the Impact of COVID-19)

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Topics include:

Pricing mechanisms, execution risk, and seller warranties

M&A Transaction Round-Up

Deal Structuring: Threshold Questions to Ask and Answer from Either Side of the Table

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Topics include:

Overview of the acquisition process
Determining the best acquisition structure from both a seller’s and a buyer’s perspective

Don’t Let COVID-19 Kill Your Deal, CFO Magazine

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Topics include:

Best practices to perform M&A deals and venture financing amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Get the Facts on SPACs

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Topics include:

Important legal issues, including additional fund options
Private investments in public equity, obtaining shareholder approval for potential mergers, and preparation for target companies

Getting to the Heart of It: The Anatomy of an M&A Transaction

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Topics include:

An overview of various M&A structures—the ins and outs of an acquisition agreement
Factors to consider when deciding which M&A structure is best
Understanding the tax implications, commercial issues, and process of a particular deal

Impact of the Paycheck Protection Program on M&A Transactions

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Topics include:

Potential risks and other diligence considerations of the Paycheck Protection Program

Issues to Consider in a New Venture Spin-Out

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Topics include:

Matters to evaluate when considering a spin-out
Technology, governance, and conflicts of interest

Key Issues in Tech M&A

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Topics include:

Trends and critical issues found in today’s technology M&A transactions and how to address them

M&A and Investment into AI Companies

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Topics include:

Key issues that buyers and investors frequently grapple with as they evaluate companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) space

M&A Academy: M&A Considerations Across the Ever-Changing Life Sciences Landscape

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Topics include:

Market trends in M&A in the life sciences sector

Navigating PPP Loans in M&A Transactions

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Topics include:

An overview of considerations that stakeholders in a transaction should note when structuring, negotiating, and executing a deal involving a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan

Technology in M&A Transactions – What Parties Care About When Buying and Selling Technology

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Topics include:

Transferability and assignability of key intellectual property and technology licenses
Important deal issues that buyers and sellers in M&A transactions care about when acquiring or selling technology assets

What You Need to Know About M&A and Investing in AI

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Topics include:

Specialized due diligence required in artificial intelligence (AI) matters
Complex issues that may arise in artificial intelligence matters

IPO Insights

Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) – A Path to Liquidity for Founders and Venture Capital Funds Investing in High Growth Companies

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Topics include:

Pros and Cons of IPOs
Issues to Consider
Corporate Structure Issues

Preparing to Go Public: Roadmap for your Early-Stage Startup

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Topics include:

How to set up your startup for success when going through an IPO
Practical advice to keep your company on the IPO track through economic turbulence.

AI in Digital Advisory Offerings: Regulatory Considerations

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Topics include:

Artificial intelligence (AI) in digital advisory offerings

Biden-Harris Administration Takes on Digital Asset Regulation

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Topics include:

Six policy objectives
Calls on federal agencies to produce reports on how these objectives interact with the industry

How Do the New CFIUS Regulations Affect My Technology Company?

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Topics include:

The need for US technology companies to address novel issues when considering noncontrolling investments from foreign investors

National Security-Related Considerations When Investing in US Companies

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Topics include:

Due diligence
Export control, sanctions, and FCPA compliance
US Government restrictions
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
Outbound investment review

Recent Developments in European FDI Laws and Their Impact on Technology Companies

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Topics include:

Recent developments in Europe on foreign direct investment (FDI) law
Applicable FDI provisions that may significantly impact the transactional diligence and timing for the implementation of cross border transactions

Software As a Medical Device: US FDA Regulatory and Legal Framework

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Topics include:

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policies applicable to artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies when intended for healthcare applications

The New CFIUS Regulations: What Happens after February 13th? - Part 1

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Topics include:

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regulations for foreign entities

The New CFIUS Regulations: What Happens after February 13th? - Part 2

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Topics include:

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regulations for foreign entities

Protecting Your Data

AI and Data Privacy

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Topics include:

An introductory session on artificial intelligence (AI) and data privacy

Cyberinsurance: Is Your Company Covered

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Topics include:

The latest developments in cyberinsurance

Privacy and Data Security Issues in M&A Transactions

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Topics include:

Key privacy and security issues in the marketplace
Regulated industries, impacts in cross-border deals, and other strategic considerations in both a corporate and commercial context

Understand Your Cyberthreats: Key Considerations in Your Company’s Cybersecurity

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Topics include:

How you can better understand and protect against cyber-based threats to your growing business

Your IT Infrastructure and Systems – Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

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Topics include:

Cybersecurity threat management and crisis response to incidents
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Security Rule standards applicable to vaccination records
Data collection and cross-border data transfer issues

Early Stage Commercial Agreements

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Topics include:

A comprehensive overview of commercial agreements and issues for life sciences companies
How these agreements can set up an entrepreneur for success

Technology Transactions Impact All Startups: A Review and Considerations

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Topics include:

Top issues impacting commercial and technology transaction agreements and their impact on startups
Negotiations and strategies and how to avoid pitfalls

Understanding University Licensing

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Topics include:

University licensing and the motivation behind it
University specific policies and laws

Corporate Venture Capital Investments in US Startups (Part 1): Fund Formation and Investment Structures

Read the Insight (English) >> | Read the Insight (Japanese) >> | Watch the presentation >> | View the slides (English) >> | View the slides (Japanese) >>

Topics include:

An overview of the fund formation process and investment structure options for corporate venture capital investors

Corporate Venture Capital Investments in US Startups (Part 2): Getting the Deal Done: Key Terms and Considerations

Read the Insight (English) >> | Read the Insight (Japanese) >> | Watch the presentation >> | View the slides (English) >> | View the slides (Japanese) >>

Topics include:

Considerations in investment transactions by corporate venture capital investors

Corporate Venture Capital Trends

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Topics include:

Corporate venture capital trends
Recent deal terms for the largest corporate venture capital deals

M&A and CVCs: Navigating the Sell-Side M&A Process from a CVC Perspective

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Topics include:

Providing corporate venture capitalists (CVCs) guidance to steer them through the M&A process and successfully exit their interests in portfolio companies
Navigating governance considerations and how to limit corporate venture capital (CVC) risk during transaction negotiations and documentation

Tomorrow’s Technology Today

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

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Topics include:

Trends in the patentability of digital health innovations and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms in healthcare, including medical imaging and diagnostics, advanced healthcare biometrics, and drug discovery
Case studies on the use of AI in medical imaging and diagnostics, advanced healthcare biometrics, and drug discovery and industry efforts to patent such use

Becoming Well Metaversed, Pittsburgh Technology Council

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Topics include:

The practical use of the metaverse and the implications tied to issues such as intellectual property rights

Bias Issues and AI

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Topics include:

Why bias occurs, how it manifests, the challenges it creates, and actions that can be taken to minimize its impact on artificial intelligence (AI)

Biotechnology, Medical Device, and Other Life Sciences Emerging Companies – Legal Strategies and Venture Capital Financing and Market Trends

Watch the presentation >> | View the slides >>

Topics include:

Background on the biotech, pharma and medical device industry
Intellectual property, partnerships and collaborations
Venture capital investments

Getting Versed in the Metaverse, Pittsburgh Technology Council’s One Mic Stand

Listen to the podcast >>

Topics include:

Legal considerations of the metaverse including the emerging platform’s potential and the intellectual property, trademark, and contractual issues associated with the metaverse

HealthTech Emerging Companies: Legal Strategies, Venture Capital Financings and Market Trends

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Topics include:

Healthcare innovation in today’s market
Legal strategies around commercialization strategy
Venture capital financing in the current funding climate

Investment Opportunities and Historical Risks in the EV Charging Market

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Topics include:

More demand in the overall EV market will allow for increased opportunities for investment
Easy charging infrastructure development and heavy charging platforms will accelerate demand

The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence for the Legal Profession

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Topics include:

Artificial intelligence (AI) development and adoption in the legal profession—from its early adoption to its current state to where we think it is headed
Moral and ethical considerations AI use raises for lawyers and their clients

What’s Driving the Future of Asia’s Tech Scene: Key Trends and Regulatory Updates

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Topics include: