Many start-ups spend too much on legal fees and do not receive good advice because many law firm attorneys do not understand the operational constraints of start ups and their need for strategic risk management. By trying to solve for all legal risks, start ups end up taking business risks that slow down their growth and could make them miss opportunities.Other start ups do not address their legal risks adequately because they cannot afford a dedicated budget to legal fees, and therefore may develop business and operational models that will not scale due to legal or compliance constraints they are not aware of.As a former GC who has practiced both in law firms for 7 years and in-house for 13 years, and as a former General Counsel of three top web consumer brands, I understand where a tech company needs to focus its resources to cover the main legal risks while not hindering growth.
After having grown up in France and Canada, I studied French and Anglo-American law in Paris (University of Paris X), then worked as a corporate attorney in France, the UK, and the Baltic States (for Moquet Borde et Associés, now the Paul Hastings Paris Office). I advised the Estonian government on its first IPO (Eesti Telecom) and closed many multi-million equity financing, project financing and M&A deals.Upon arriving in San Francisco in 2000, I worked in a small law firm advising Bay Area technology start-ups on corporate, equity & debt financing, IP, employment and transactional matters. I started at Ask.com in 2005 upon its acquisition by media conglomerate IAC. I supported many different web, mobile and advertising businesses including IAC Advertising Solutions, Ask Sponsored Listings, Evite, Dictionary.com, Urbanspoon, and About.com. I became Ask.com’s General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer in February 2011 and SVP of Business Development in July 2012, and was interim head of HR for six months. I closed many acquisition and divestment deals as well as content and monetization partnerships.In October 2014, I became the first general counsel of Change.org, the world’s largest online platform for social change. I lead the content policy team and set up operations for Change.org’s high growth and international development, including global privacy compliance. I also managed three funding rounds and was interim head of HR for six months.In 2017 I served as interim general counsel at Udemy, the largest online education platform, where I lead efforts to update Udemy’s copyright and content policies, GDPR readiness program, development of its enterprise SaaS business and international expansion.in 2018 I served as part time General Counsel of Callisto, a tech non-profit with a mission to end sexual violence and I co-lead with the CTO the data architecture and privacy by design model that enable survivors of sexual assault to privately and safely submit entries designating their perpetrator, detects repeat offenders and receive legal advice.Since 2019, I am fully dedicated to my legal practice, serving as outside GC to several Bay area tech companies, start-ups and privately owned organizations in the tech and nonprofit sector. With my clients I focus on corporate governance and fundraising, commercial transactions, privacy, product support and employment, including navigating through the COVID 19 regulations.I was a board member of the French American Chamber of Commerce from 2004 to 2021 and served as its president in 2016 and 2017. Through the Chamber, the Women GC Network and other professional groups, I advised and mentored many women attorneys and executives in their career development.
Where I can add value to your business:Through the years spent with many online and tech businesses, I have worked with all online and mobile consumer business models (including subscription, ad supported, in-app transactions, crowdfunding, user generated content) and many B2B models (subscription, SaaS, T&M, OEM, Reseller).Technology TransactionsA contract is a business document first and a legal document second. The main purpose of a contract is to set expectations with your customer, vendor or partner, and to provide for solutions when things don’t go as planned. I will make sure your business terms are clearly described and you will be set up for a successful relationship. I keep redlines to a minimum, allowing flexibility where possible, especially when you are a start-up negotiating against a larger company. I will partner with your sales team towards closing your deal, not towards raising unnecessary issues. I find ways to streamline the contract process and have increased significantly contract volume throughput in all organizations I advised.Product and PrivacySite and app policies are often lengthy, incomprehensible for your users and miss the point. I will make sure you say what you do and do what you say and help you be transparent, clear and concise with your users, in plain English. Complex legalese don’t belong in consumer facing documents.I will advise you on your privacy and data processing practices to make sure that you get the most value out of your data and meet the industry standards that your business partners expect and that will satisfy regulators, without disrupting your operations and product development roadmap. Most privacy counsels offer a cookie cutter – check list approach to compliance. I will make sure to work around your existing operations and streamline processes.CorporateI will help you set up sound corporate governance to enable you to attract investors, raise funds and manage board expectations. I will also help you understand and implement the best suited structures for expanding in other markets.IP protectionI will help you manage your trademark, domain name and patent portfolios, and make the right decisions to get the most protection for your budget, including choosing the right trademark and patent counsels. I will help you draft policies and guidelines for use of your brand by your marketing teams and partners.EmploymentAs a start up, you need streamlined documents and processes to ensure compliance and lower risks of employee claims, and a good partner to help you understand how to be compliant at low cost and how to resolve employee relations issues when they come up. I will help you avoid unnecessary risks and navigate through health and safety compliance.