Top 10 Legal Mistakes Early-Stage Founders Make - and How to Avoid Them

​Both in-person and Zoom dial in options will be available-We'll announce the Zoom link when it's available

​Navigating the legal landscape is one of the most common challenges for early-stage founders. Join the Climate Startup Legal AMA workshop hosted by Stanford ACT, SPIE, the GSB Climate Club, and the Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy Initiative in partnership with Goodwin’s Climate Technology practice.

​Andrew Sparks, Partner at Goodwin and Co-Chair of the firm’s Climate Technology practice, will walk through the top legal pitfalls early-stage startups face — from entity formation and cap table structuring to fundraising, IP, and investor negotiations — followed by an open Q&A session.

​Whether you're just getting started or already raising your first round, this session is designed to give founders in the Stanford ecosystem actionable guidance from one of the leading legal voices in climate tech.

​Format:

• ​40-minute presentation

• ​20-minute Q&A

• ​Open to: Stanford students, alumni, and founders in the climate tech ecosystem

​A follow-up session on startup IP, featuring Kevin Lam of Goodwin Law, is also being planned.

​Background

​Andrew Sparks is a partner in the firm’s Technology group and a guest lecturer Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Andrew is Co-Chair of the firm’s Climate Technology practice and a member of the firm’s Technology Knowledge Management Committee and Business Development Committee. His practice focuses on representing fast-growing emerging technology companies and the entrepreneurs who build them. Andrew has a broad range of experience in venture capital financings and corporate matters, including counseling founders in starting new businesses, capitalization structures, fundraising, strategic issues, negotiations with investors and acquirers, mergers and acquisitions, and other legal matters. He has worked for technology companies across a spectrum of industries including fintech, climate technology, artificial intelligence, SaaS, robotics, IoT, security, platforms, deep tech, crypto, and digital health. Andrew also maintains an active pro bono practice.

​Goodwin’s Climate Tech practice has the mission of supporting clients’ efforts to avert the worst consequences of the global environmental crisis by providing differentiated and highly sophisticated legal services to startups and startup investors in the climate technologies sector. Our clients are developing and scaling innovations in climate software, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage, nuclear fusion, batteries, mobility, sustainable agriculture, materials science, advanced manufacturing, plastic alternatives, and other areas. Our team is the first of its kind in the industry, consisting of experts in the field with backgrounds not only in law, but in biotech sciences, engineering, and public health policy development. As such, we are able to provide proactive and comprehensive legal services to climate technology enterprises and investors across the globe. To learn more about our global law firm, please visit www.goodwinlaw.com.

​If you’d like to connect with our co-chairs leading this effort, please reach out to: Andrew Sparks & David Brekke.

​This event is jointly organized by the alumni groups Stanford Professionals in Energy & Stanford Alumni in Climate Tech.