Understanding the legal ramifications for your future start-up business.
Raising funding is a significant part of building a successful, scalable business. Yet it can be a complex process with multiple questions. Where do you find capital? What’s the best type of investment model for the start-up? How do you cover the investment legally? How do you put a founder’s agreement in place? When should you consider IP protection of your idea?
SPARK Deakin and Deakin Law Schools’ Venture Law Information Service have assembled a panel of experts who will discuss these topics and other legal issues you need to consider when scaling your start-up. The panelists will also examine the rise of Chinese investment in the start-up scene and its implications for Australian entrepreneurs. The panel members comprise of Dr Claudio Bozzi, Adam Davies, Simeon Michaels, Jeremy Krabill, Oscar McLennan and Dr Erjiang Fu.
Dr Claudio Bozzi
Claudio is a lecturer in School of Law where he established the School's Clinical Legal Education program. He is Executive Director of the Centre on the Legal Profession which undertakes research into the roles and responsibilities of the legal profession in a changing social and economic environment. Claudio is also a barrister at the Victorian Bar specialising in maritime law and advising commercial and corporate clients.
Adam Davies
Adam is currently the Programme Lead for both of the University of Oxford’s VIEW Entrepreneurship courses and is the main lecturer on the university’s Summer Intensive mini-accelerator program. He is also a serial entrepreneur in his own right, having built various businesses over the last 20 years. Highlights include personally raising a $29m investment round, launching the world’s first online investment platform for new media projects and building a consultancy firm from zero to $1.7m turnover in under a year.
Simeon Michaels (via Skype)
Simeon is the Head of Global Legal & Strategic Advice at Beeinventive (Flow Hive Technology). Through a Kickstarter campaign, Flow Hive raised more than $US2 million ($A2.7m) in a day. By the end of their campaign had raised $US12.2 million ($A16.9m) and had to make 24,000 orders to be sent to 140 countries.
Jeremy Kraybill
Co-Founder of Dashcord, a marketing and events software company that serves Salesforce customers. Jeremy also serves as Chief Entrepreneur in Residence at the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP). Jeremy has started or held executive positions in a variety of software and product start-ups over the past 20+ years in Texas and Australia.
Oscar McLennan
General Manager & Partner at Startmate, Australia's leading start-up accelerator. Prior to Startmate, Oscar was a Principal at Quid, a San Francisco machine learning start-up backed by the Founders Fund. Prior to that, Oscar was a Product Manager at Better Place, a $1Bn electric car start-up, working in Israel, California, and Australia.
Dr Erjiang Fu
Co-Founder & CEO of ACASE, Australia-China Association of Scientists and Entrepreneurs. ACASE is a not-for-profit organization in Victoria and runs entrepreneurship training and events for scientists and engineers. With its strong connection with China, ACASE has found investment and market partners for Australian start-ups. Dr Fu has a PhD degree in science and has an extensive experience in research commercialization and start-ups.