Tagged: dror futter

Venture Capital and the Art of the Deal: More of the Same

Imagine a Baskin Robbins where you can get any flavor you want, as long as it is vanilla. Based on recent data provided by the National Venture Capital Association in partnership with Aumni, the market for venture capital deal terms seem to be that kind… Read More

The Exempt Offering Ecosystem: What the SEC Changed

TL;DR – The SEC announced a series of amendments (likely to be effective early next year) to the rules governing private offering exemptions – by far the most frequent path for venture fundraising.  The amendments retain the same “menu” of exemptions but make incremental improvements…. Read More

Retroactive Pay-to-Play Coming to a Venture Theater Near You

  Buried in the model Series A Certificate of Incorporation of the National Venture Capital Association is the following notation: This Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation includes a sample “pay-to-play” provision, pursuant to which Preferred Stock investors are penalized if they fail to invest… Read More

A First Timers Guide to Down Rounds

  If your venture is confronting a down round, you should not wear it as a badge of shame. Even in normal times, few ventures make an uninterrupted march up and to the right on the valuation curve. More importantly, if you are doing a… Read More

An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Surviving Coronavirus

Remember all those articles about whether venture was overvalued?  With blinding speed, they now seem quaint.  Bluntly stated, most venture-backed companies are in a fight for survival.    Although certain areas of life sciences may do somewhat better, I think the impact will be widely felt. … Read More

Telegram Enforcement Action: “A reminder that the SEC not only has considerable enforcement tools but is willing to use them”

Last week, Crowdfund Insider reported on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action against Telegram and the issuance of Gram tokens. The move by the SEC is a doozy and telling. First, Telegram sold about $1.7 billion in a SAFT (simple agreement for future… Read More

Block.one, Creator of EOS, Settles with the SEC. Was it a Slap on the Wrist? Did EOS Get a Pass from the Feds?

Earlier this week it was announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had settled with Block.one, creator of EOS, regarding allegations of issuing unregistered securities during an initial coin offering (ICO) that raised a record-breaking $4 billion. The fine assessed by the… Read More

On the Second Anniversary of the DAO: The Token Universe’s Cat Food Moment

Recently we marked the second anniversary of the SEC’s issuance of an Investigative Report finding that the DAO Tokens were securities.   While this killed the hopes of those who had interpreted SEC silence to mean consent to the unregulated issuance of tokens, it still… Read More

SAFEs 2.0: YCombinator Updates the Form

In late 2013, seed accelerator YCombinator introduced the SAFE (simple agreement for future equity) – a convertible instrument designed to make seed stage investing quicker and less expensive. The SAFEs quickly became a popular structure for seed investing.  Early this fall, YCombinator introduced several changes… Read More

ICO Tokens & the SEC: You Can’t Even Give Them Away …. No, Seriously

Summary:    The SEC has issued a Cease & Desist Order and sanctions against a token issuer and its founder.  Among several findings, the SEC determined that the “Bounty Program” run by the issuer constituted a securities offering.  The Order states “a ‘gift’ of a… Read More

SEC on ICO’s: The Central Thing is Decentralization

In June 14 comments before the “Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit: Crypto,” William Hinman, Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance, stated: ETHER is not a security Decentralization and means of promotion are key to determining whether a token is a security. A digital… Read More

Creation of an ICO Safe Harbor Would Provide a Zone of Regulatory Certainty in a Market Flooded with Questionable Compliance

The US initial coin offering (ICO) market is the subject of a great deal of regulatory uncertainty resulting, in large part, from the absence of comprehensive guidance by the SEC.   The uncertainty has caused frustration for issuers and investors and has also been counter-productive… Read More

With Regulators Clamping Down on ICOs in the US, Should Issuers Consider Off-Shoring Their Crowdsales?

The environment for initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the US has changed dramatically in the past few months. In July of 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the DAO report that identified the token offering as a security indicating at least some of the… Read More

Washington, DC: The New Blockchain Hub in 2018

The global blockchain community gathered in Washington DC, the world’s policy and innovation center, on February 20th for the Digital Asset Investment Forum (DAIF) hosted by FinTech4Good. This was the second forum of DAIF global series in the year of 2018, serving as the launch… Read More

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