The entrepreneur's guide to business law

What Hacker News says

1. plaur782Dec 2020
   Cooley Go is a great resource for legal agreements and forms commonly required by start ups (particularly venture backed startups). The site includes both the form templates and documentation generators. The site also includes a number of posts related to start up FAQs such as allocating initial founder equity, tax issues associated with equity incentives, etc.

   For a deeper dive into the legal issues frequently encountered by venture backed start ups - check out the Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law:

   https://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurs-Guide-Business-Law-eboo...

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2. ilamontMar 2016
   As a CEO you set the rules your company operates under and you determine who else has what kind of powers within the company. For instance, you could delegate some of your work to others that you feel are more qualified or that can help you lighten the load. Even so, you are still responsible for whatever it is that they do and even though it is great to work with others and to be able to trust them because the end responsibility is yours you are still required to check up on them to make sure that they actually do what they say they do.

   This is an issue that trips up companies that get into legal trouble; oftentimes the CEO or senior management suggest that they are not responsible for the actions of a "rogue employee" or a scheme that was carried out by underlings without their knowledge. In the U.S., the company (and its officers) are liable for the actions of employees.

   There is a book by Constance Bagley called The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law, 4th Edition (ISBN 9780538466462) that covers this and other issues (contracts, incorporation, fiduciary responsibility, etc.). It's a great resource for anyone running their own business.

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3. damoncaliJan 2012
   The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law: http://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurs-Guide-Business-Law/dp/05...

   It's the only one you'll need - it basically covers everything required to jump into an intelligent conversation with your attorney.

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4. jjguyAug 2011
   Link dead for me. Found the list republished here: http://thenextbigtechthing.com/10-books-every-entrepreneur-s...

   "The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Law" -- LLC vs C-corp vs S-Corp? Founder’s vesting? Liquidation Preferences? Equity vs Debt financing? This book will educate you enough to be able to answer these and many other important questions.

   "Bootstrapping Your Business" -- From the founder of RightNow. The amazing story of how a geographically-challenged (Montana) entrepreneur built a world class business.

   "Purple Cow" -- Dead simple premise, the key to marketing is to build something remarkable.

   "The Art of the Start" -- The Art of Pitching, Marketing and Funding your Startup.

   "The Innovator’s Dilemma" -- If your startup beats all the odds and becomes hugely successful prepare yourself for the innovator’s dilemma, cannibalize your product before someone else does.

   "The E-Myth Revisited" -- How-to create a business not a job.

   "Permission Marketing" -- The greatest marketing asset your startup can build is the permission to market to your customers and prospects.

   "Growing a Business" -- Sincere advice for creating a company culture that your team and customers will love.

   "The Cluetrain Manifesto" -- Successful marketing is a conversation.

   "Bottom-up Marketing" -- Pure bottoms-up execution. Marketing tactics to grow your business.

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5. grellasJun 2010
   Two good ones:

   Edwin L. Miller, Lifecycle of a Technology Company: Step-by-Step Legal Background and Practical Guide from Startup to Sale (http://www.amazon.com/Lifecycle-Technology-Company-Step-Step...)

   Constance E. Bagley and Craig E. Dauchy, The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law (http://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurs-Guide-Business-Law/dp/03...)

   Both of these do a good job of delineating startup issues from a legal perspective. They do so from what I would call a "big firm" perspective, which means heavy emphasis on VC-template-style companies as opposed to the leaner or bootstrap variety. Nonetheless, both do an excellent job of presenting the formal legal questions in practical contexts and both give clear explanations of the main issues involved in a startup from inception to exit.

   Edit: The Miller book actually does a pretty good job of covering IP basics and, beyond that, I don't know of any particularly standout general IP book written for business people (there are some pretty good ones covering specific categories such as patent). By the way, as between Bagley/Dauchy and Miller, the Miller book is my personal favorite for startups - it was originally written as a big-firm treatise (multi-volume, with each of 4 or 5 volumes costing $200 or so), dry as dust, and then magically transformed through a fabulous edit job at Wiley into a well-distilled presentation of startup issues.

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6. minouyeApr 2010
   For anyone with concerns about business structure, I highly recommend "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law"--while it doesn't cover all of the tax implications of each structure, it is a great general reference for LLC vs. S-Corp vs. C-Corp (and a myriad of other topics).

   http://www.amazon.com/Entrepreneurs-Guide-Business-Law/dp/03...

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