If you have an entrepreneurial bone in your body, being a startup lawyer is a pretty great gig. You get to work with dozens and dozens of smart entrepreneurs, see cutting edge technologies before they are launched, and get to work in one of the most fast paced sectors of our economy. At the same time, being a startup lawyer is like getting a taste of the first course of a big meal, but never quite getting to dive into all 14 courses.
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Starting in October, I’ll be joining Appature as its VP of Operations and General Counsel. It’s an exciting change and will be a whole new set of challenges, opportunities and experiences. For me, it’ll be the chance to try all 14 courses of the meal — even if some of them don’t taste great or give you a bit of indigestion… Leaving Cooley, my law firm, and the great people I’ve worked with for the past years was a very difficult decision. These folks are like family and we’ve all been through some unique experiences having gone through Heller Ehrman’s unfortunate dissolution in 2008 and the challenge of opening and building a Cooley office in Seattle. I’ve been fortunate to get some amazing support from my Cooley family for the move, which again proves how great this group is.
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But, as my mom told me growing up, “when you know, you know.” (Even back then, I had no idea what that really meant, but there was definitely truth to what she said.) And with Appature, I just knew it was the right opportunity.
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Deciding to Leave the Law Game
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A few months back, a friend and Seattle startup “ambassador”, Andy Sack, interrupted my introduction to an entrepreneur saying, “Don’t let him tell you he’s an attorney. He’s really an entrepreneur moonlighting as a lawyer.”
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Truth is, I love being a lawyer. Sure, the hours can be ridiculous and combing through a hundred page merger document to make sure all the section references are correct can be painful. However, being a startup lawyer is also incredibly fulfilling. It’s a unique job to be able to help an entrepreneur take their vision and turn it into a business. When you see the passion, the creativity and the stick-to-it-ness of an entrepreneur, it is truly inspiring. I’ve been lucky to work with lots of great companies and entrepreneurs, which has been rewarding and taught me more than I thought possible.
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But as Andy Sack so aptly said, I’ve got that bone in my body that makes me want to get my hands on business challenges. Many of my clients will tell you about how I’m always happy to help with their pitch deck or to think about a business issue or to spend time connecting them up with a potential customer.
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Before law school, I worked in the business world for Morgan Stanley and a public medical device company, Ventana Medical Systems. But I’ll be honest, I thought being a business lawyer was a great way to keep my feet in both business and legal camps. But part of me always had an inkling I’d make a move back into the business world. And one of the experiences that cemented my desire to someday join a startup company was Startup Weekend. For me, it started as a way to engage the startup community as a lawyer, and became a way to experience hands-on operations of a technology project or company. It was just a little more than a year ago at Startup Weekend Redmond that I had the opportunity to pitch an idea to help me remember people’s names. That idea, coupled with a fun team of people and a bit of controversy, turned into Learn That Name. We took that Startup Weekend experience and continued it after the weekend, launching our app in the store, getting some press coverage and then, taking the story full circle, sold the app and the company to Gist. And working with the Startup Weekend team also showed me their passion for their startup — and being on their board has given me a unique world into what it takes and the passion they all share.
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All that being said, I definitely wasn’t looking to leave Cooley and join a startup. As I said, being a startup lawyer at Cooley is one of the few places and jobs where you can be involved with startups, participate in opportunities like Startup Weekend (my “wantrapreneur” side) and work with some incredibly smart, dedicated people. Seattle startups and entrepreneurs have been incredibly kind to me and allowed me the opportunity to help advise some really cool companies. But it took a really unique opportunity to make me start to think about making a transition from startup lawyer to startupper…
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So Why Appature and Why Now?
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Being a startup lawyer, I get to see lots of startups, lots of entrepreneurs and lots of successes (and unfortunately, some failures too). That vantage point gives me the unique position to learn what aspects help make a company a success.
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I’ve known Kabir Shahani and Chris Hahn (the Appature co-founders) for nearly two years and have worked as their lawyer for nearly 18 months now. I consider them both friends. And getting to see their vision from afar and up close gives me an insight into Appature that really helped guide my decision. They really care about building a business around people — it’s not just lip-service, but something they both practice in every decision. It takes dedicated people throughout the organization to make a startup shine, and they’ve made a firm commitment to just that.
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Plus, it’s obvious to me that the Appature team is really onto something with their product. As a startup lawyer, I usually can get a good sense for the team, but it’s hard to know if the technology or the market are really poised for success. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to make that determination. Appature was able to partner with two of the leading venture capital funds in the Pacific Northwest, Madrona and Ignition. Plus, Appature has some ‘who’s who’ of customers from the pharma, med device and health technology sector. Those external “validators” helped me to see that there really is a big opportunity ahead for our team. Sure, it’s not without its share of challenges and struggles ahead, but we aren’t deciding if the ‘dog will eat the dog food.’ We know customers want it and our challenge is to get it into their hands. Appature’s been able to see scale in effect in just the past 10 months since they raised venture money in the form of more customers in these past 10 months than in the prior three years combined. Now my job is to help come in and do what I can to help this process continue. We want to see the ‘hockey stick’ and it takes a team firing on all cylinders to make that happen.
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I also really took the time to get to know some of the key folks on the rest of the Appature team – both the early hires and those recent hires post funding. I was struck by two things: (1) these are people who are personable and truly care about the Appature culture; and (2) these are people who truly believe we can build a $100 million business. That’s the type of people you want to associate yourself with – a team of good people ready to go to war to win. And that’s what I found. So thanks to these folks for welcoming me in this process and sharing their vision and passion.
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And finally Appature found a role for me that really will leverage my experience while letting me grow. I’m not your typical hire at this stage by some metrics. A startup doesn’t usually need a lawyer; it doesn’t often need a CFO; and it doesn’t need a ‘jack-of-all trades.’ That said, I also feel like I’m not really a traditional lawyer, accountant or startupper (hopefully I’m a bit of each). I spent five years in finance-related positions (and have my CPA). Plus, I’m a business and startup lawyer, which gives me a unique set of experiences advising dozens and dozens of startups. Over that time, I’ve dealt with lots of challenges – hiring issues, IP issues, financings, mergers, etc. Hopefully those experiences coupled with a willingness to get my hands dirty and learn, put me in a place to really help. So what exactly will I be doing? Probably a bit of everything, with an emphasis on finance, legal, hiring, operations and whatever else needs to be done. That type of role may seem intimidating since it is so unstructured, but for me it’s a perfect fit — leveraging my unique background and giving me lots of opportunities for growth.
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So after a bit of research, discussion and lots of late night talks on our dog-walks with my wife Allison (those were the most helpful for me in the process), we just thought it was the right time and the right place. And so Appature here we come…
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Thanks for the support, Seattle!
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Over the past few days, I’ve been able to start telling friends, colleagues, clients and others about this new role. I’ve been so pleased to see the broad support for the startup technology community and, more importantly, the personal support I received (the Xconomy quote describing me as a “splashy hire” was particularly funny to read). That’s something that makes the decision much easier – to know you’ve got lots of people not only pulling for you, but willing to offer their help to make it happen.
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So thanks to everyone and looking forward to this new adventure. I’m still planning to keep my hands involved in the startup community – I’ll remain active on the board of Startup Weekend and hope to continue to talk with entrepreneurs and offer any help I can. It’ll be a new role and a new challenge, but giving back to the community remains very important to me. Thanks again to all the wonderful people at Cooley – you’ve been amazing to work with and I thank you for all the opportunities I was given. Now, onto the exciting world of Saas software, the healthcare inudstry and startup challenges.
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It’s going to be a fun ride!
October 12th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Eric,
Great news and congratulations!
Cliff
October 12th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Congratulations! Setting out on a new path is always fun. But, I’ve got to say on a personal note it’s a bummer. We’re just starting our path to funding and found you. I was really excited to have found a start-up lawyer who truly seemed to relate to the entrepreneurial spirit and now you’re leaving that role. Appature is lucky to have you.
October 13th, 2010 at 6:47 am
Eric,
Congratulations on the move. There aren’t many better gigs than being a startup lawyer and it looks like you found one. It was great to finally meet you in Kansas City.
October 13th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Congratulations! Best of luck with Appature, you’re going to kill it over there! Thanks for the shout out and for all of the help you’ve given us over the last year and a half. You have been instrumental in taking Startup Weekend to the next level, I’m looking forward to what’s to come!
Best,
Clint