Customer Reviews

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law

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I've been a CEO for 17 years, and recently became involved with another startup company. Although there was an attorney on the board, I wasn't certain that the corporate form that had been selected was optimal. This book was recommended by the Stanford Center for Entrepreneurship as a great resource, so I picked it up. It has turned out to be very valuable. After reading the chapter on corporate form we switched from an LLC to a C Corp. I found myself advising some pretty smart lawyers on this issue.

The book covers many other topics relevant to startup companies, such as selecting an attorney, forming a board, and developing a stock options plan. What I like most is the authors' ability to provide just the right amount of background information (unavoidable when discussing legal issues) and immediately demonstrating practical implications. There are some useful charts outlining various approaches and their pros and cons: for example, I found the chart on corporate forms (LLC vs. C corp. vs. S corp., etc.) terrific.

The authors use numerous real-life case studies to bring concepts to life. Also, a very nice feature of the book is a substantial fictitious case study that is advanced at the end of every chapter, illustrating that chapter's key points.

The chapter organization of the book by topic makes it easy to pick and choose the sections you want to read. The order of the chapters is a good roadmap for the order in which an entrepreneur would want to consider the issues. The chapter on choosing and managing a lawyer will itself save you far more money than you'll spend on this book.

This book goes into great detail about all aspects of Business Law. Anyone who currently owns a business or is thinking about opening a business needs to read this book, or at least have it near by as a reference guide.

However, the book is certainly aimed at Corporate USA and those who are looking to start up a BIG business. If you are looking to open or currently own a Small Business, then there are better books on the market that are tailored more to your needs.

This book deserves to be on the shelf of every entrepreneur. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law will take you on a virtual tour of the start-up process, and beyond, from the legal perspective. As experienced entrepreneurs understand, any business is a web of relationships, many of which are detailed in legal documents. This is the case for the relationship (establishment) of the entity with the state, relationships between co-founders, relationships between employees and the company, relationship between the company and its investors, suppliers, customers, etc. The legal foundation for all of these is clearly explained, and this book includes a wealth of practical information that will help any entrepreneur to work more efficiently and effectively with their legal counsel.

Steven K. Gold
Author, Entrepreneur's Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture

This is an excellent guide for the do-it-yourself entrepreneur. It is a step by step guide for getting your business started. It also addresses the methods for getting good service from legal firms and others and how they work. Overall, I really enjoyed this text and would highly recommend it to others.