INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sam Angus has been a lawyer in Silicon Valley since the 1990s
Today, he represents some of the biggest names in the startup world, from their earliest days through acquisitions and IPOs, and including
four acquisitions last year: TSheets, GitHub, Glint and HelloSign.
But his startup experience actually goes back to the 1980s, when he and
some friends built a booming calendar publishing business out of their dorm room during college
In the interview below, he tells us about the ups and downs of the tech industry over the decades, how he helps clients through the good
times and bad, and how he works within Fenwick West, one of the leading tech law firms in tech
We also discuss long-term trends, like the shift towards founder-friendly terms in this era versus past decades in the Valley.
On
early-stage problems:
&I&ve represented hundreds of early-stage companies
It is not uncommon for companies to have some existing legal issue that needs to be addressed, such as capitalization, documentation and/or
It is unfortunate, but these issues will frequently — especially with early stage companies — lie dormant and be discovered when the
company is contemplating its first financing or a significant transaction, and can take investors or buyers by surprise.
&Sam is one
of the most trusted partners that I have ever had and one of the most important people to [the company&s] history.& — A cofounder
and CEO of a large unicorn company
&A common mistake is for a company to think that a given issue will not be a concern to an
In my experience, issues that arise on the eve of a financing or other transaction can create risk in the transaction and can be expensive
For example, one client I worked with had been operating for years with virtually no documentation and not surprisingly had significant
deficiencies in terms of corporate approvals
Very few things are fatal, but the result for this client was a bumpy and more expensive financing process — which required several rounds
of explanation to the investors and their counsel.&
On being a startup lawyer:
&What I&ve learned is that the best lawyers for startups
bring more than competent legal advice to the relationship & they act like business owners themselves, thinking strategically about the
The best lawyers have significant experience and a knack for pattern recognition, the combination of which helps identify issues and
opportunities in advance of when they become apparent.&
On risk-taking:
&There are some legal risks that early-stage companies will need to
In my view, my role with earlier stage clients is to position them for success by being practical and focusing them on the issues that are
material for a company at their stage of development
Overall, I want to empower clients to push the bounds of what they think is possible, while making wise business and legal decisions that
won&t handicap them in the future.
&I would also point out that being able to scale with clients is extremely important
As clients grow, my role evolves to fit their needs & what works for a startup company is different from what a unicorn/growth company will
With early-stage companies I tend to be more closely involved with the founders and the company business, while with later stage companies
the relationship becomes more strategic and we tend to support internal legal teams and boards of directors.
Below, you&ll find the rest
of the founder reviews, the full interview, and more details like their pricing and fee structures.
This article is part of our ongoing
series covering the early-stage startup lawyers who founders love to work with, based on this survey (which we&re keeping open for more
recommendations) and our own research
If you&re a founder trying to navigate the early-stage legal landmines, be sure to check out our growing set of in-depth articles, like this
checklist of what you need to get done on the corporate side in your first years as a company.
The Interview
Eric Eldon: To begin with,
tell me about Fenwick West
It one of the original law firms that started in Silicon Valley and focused on tech companies, and you&ve been there for years through the
various cycles.
Sam Angus: Launching my career in Silicon Valley has provided me with a unique skillset and perspective that now enables me
to thoughtfully advise clients who want to scale quickly, no matter where they are located
Working with fast-growing innovators, like those I&ve served since the tech boom of the 1990s, is in my view different from traditional
approaches to practicing law
Providing clients with excellent legal advice is table stakes for any advisor to startups
What I&ve learned is that the best lawyers for startups bring more than competent legal advice to the relationship — they act like
business owners themselves, thinking strategically about the business
The best lawyers have significant experience and a knack for pattern recognition, the combination of which helps identify issues and
opportunities in advance of when they become apparent
Great startup lawyers also have extensive networks of investors, founders and partners and can leverage these networks to help their
clients, address material operational issues, fundraise or complete a strategic transaction
They are efficient/cost-effective and move as quickly as their clients, and, most importantly, provide judgment
This entire skill-set is rare for lawyers, but when it comes in one package it is incredibly valuable to emerging companies
That one of the reasons why I love working at Fenwick: this approach to advising startups is simply how we practice.
Eldon: The legal
industry is seeing real competition from online services and automation — how are you competing
Angus: It is true that automation is
impacting the practice of law, like other sectors of the economy
Because Fenwick works closely with innovative companies across the globe and sees how technology is changing things, we are among the firms
leading the way to embrace this change.
For example, Fenwick has an in-house data and technology innovation team
Our innovation team has developed various automation tools and software products to augment and enhance the services we provide our clients
These include automated forms, client portals where clients can access all the data about their companies (i.e
key corporate documents, cap table, contact information for their Fenwick team, etc.), and use of tools such as Kira, an AI platform that
automates aspects of document review in MA deals, allowing us to close deals at a rapid pace while helping control costs.
Another innovation
is our budgeting capability
Fenwick budgeting team provides our clients with timely and accurate cost estimates for projects and transactions, such as MA or IPOs
Leveraging our proprietary deal data about hundreds of similar transactions, we are able to more accurately predict legal costs for our
clients.
Eldon: Let go back to how you got into working with technology companies and startups.
Angus: In the early 1980s, after a short
stint playing professional tennis, I was recruited to play tennis at UC Santa Barbara on a tennis scholarship
While at UCSB, I entered the entrepreneur world, starting UCSB first entrepreneur club with two friends in 1984
We also launched our own business, a publishing company that produced and distributed wall calendars.
Our growth was rapid: In our first
year we did one calendar title, the next year we expanded to five calendar titles, the year after that 25 calendar titles, the year after
that 75 titles, as well as a number of posters and other printed products
As our business grew, we started licensing popular culture content, which was something the calendar industry hadn&t really seen before
We were the first to produce the Michael Jackson calendar and the first Madonna calendar.
Eldon: You did all of this while you were in
college
Angus: Yes, though I ended up taking a break from college in 1987, one quarter shy of completing my degree, to pursue the business
By 1989, the company had grown to about 150 US salespeople, ten international distributors, and was doing roughly $50 million annually in
gross revenue.
In the end, I ended up selling my interest in the company to the lead investor following resolution of various claims with
Through that experience, I learned firsthand what it like to be a founder who had bootstrapped and had scaled the company with complex
supply chain … and navigated investor issues.
