Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program

This is a fast primer on applying for the SBA disaster loans. We are located in Illinois so there are some state specific resources, but other states will have them, too. We’ll try to update this with more information. SBA has authorized loans for businesses affected by Covid-19 State…

3 M’S to Conquer When You Become Your Own Boss

If you want to be a boss, you have to deal with a bunch of things you never had to deal with as an employee. The most important parts fall into three buckets: 1. Money, 2. Marketing and 3. Methods. 1. METHODS Your work and life will only be…

How to Work Out Your Deals with Your Partners & Investors

Your relationship to your co-founders and investors can make – or break – your business. Trouble is, your relationship is 1 part communication to 5 parts law – and the law parts are a mystery. Join us at 2112 Chicago on Tuesday, April 24th at 6pm for HOW TO…

Want to Protect Your Business? Stand on This.

There are 3 kinds of risks: the risk that you’ll get screwed or sued; the risk that you’ll get in a fight and the risk that you’ll lose the fight. These risks are ever present. The only way to avoid these risks completely is to stay on your couch….

The Most Boring (And Important) Post You’ll Ever Read

There is a part of nearly every contract entitled “Notice.”  No one reads it, but everyone should. What is the Notice provision, how does it work and why does it matter? What is it? Every contract is its own little city-state. The language creates a set of rules about…

What is Art? (Under Copyright Law)

We made this chart to help us think about works of art that are entitled to copyright and why. It is a work in progress:   “What is Art” The Chart (2017) Most law is a balancing act among different ideas – copyright is no different. Copyright seeks to get people…

10 Great Things About an LLC

When I was just a youngster fresh out of law school, LLCs were these exotic things that no one understood. In fact, like many unfamiliar things, the more conservative corporate lawyers were afraid of them – afraid their tax treatments wouldn’t be recognized by the IRS, afraid not having…

Delaware? Don’t Do It.

Most people should not incorporate or organize their entity in Delaware. Now, I know that many advisers recommend organizing in Delaware and there are times when it is appropriate. Delaware has created and refined well-designed statutes and efficient, professional courts to make it easy, predictable and respectable to form…

Bow Truss v. The Profit: Better Than Reality TV

I’ve been following and writing about the Bow Truss v. Marcus Lemonis kerfuffle – now lawsuit – because messy litigation is my reality TV. And, this is messy. As a lawyer, my stock in trade is careful, calibrated elocutions of ambivalence. But, here, I’m not lawyering, I’m writing, so…

6 Contracts You Can’t Do Without

Contracts are the trip wire of deals. Here’s why. With legit business people, you can’t get started on the work or the payments until you sign the contract. Your contract is your reason to write down what has to get done, what has to get paid and by when….