I am a self-professed #TrademarkNerd. I think they are interesting beasts. They combine business, law, social science, and, of course, shopping. When a lot of people think about trademarks, they think about what the company owns and does with it. That’s fair. Companies spend a lot of time, money, and effort on their trademarks. But … Read more
At the beginning of the year, I gave myself a personal challenge of wearing the same dress for 100 days. Yup, one single dress. I pared down my closet and found reasons to wear cute tights and leggings even if I was just sitting at my desk at home. During that time, I explored ideas … Read more
I called the customer service line for my utility provider the other day and had a moment of confusion when I was addressed as “Samuel J. Kavalier.” The name I heard was not “Sam,” the name by which friends and family have known me for as long as I can remember, and the name I … Read more
On July 1st, the threshold requirements ramped up for Illinois schools and the software vendors that provide them services under the Illinois Student Online Personal Privacy Act (SOPPA). Most of the new requirements fall within the purview of the schools, such as maintaining a publicly available list of all software vendors providing software to … Read more
Time flies when you’re having fun. In November & December 2018, I wrote a series of posts about ownership dilution in the context of startup fundraising – it seems like it was yesterday – but apparently it was more than two years ago! If you’re interested in checking out those posts, they’re available here and … Read more
One of my favorite things to do is help someone buy or sell a business. It is often either the grand finale for the owner of a successful company or the beginning of one for new owners. No matter if I am representing the buyer or the seller, it is exciting. Also, regardless of who … Read more
We work with a lot of entrepreneurs and start-ups. Heck, at 5 years old, our firm is just getting out of the toddler stage! So, I get asked a lot about the “how.” How do you start? How do you know what to do? How do you scale? We can answer a lot of the … Read more
People are weird. It really boils down to that. And I’m not excluding myself from that categorization at all. All people are weird. Need proof? Veblen goods are proof. A Veblen good is a good where demand rises as price rises. See?! Weird. But, it turns out that people are weird in a somewhat predictable … Read more
I’ve been doing some research lately about the concept of decision fatigue. What can I say, I’m a nerd. But I have found it fascinating. Decision fatigue is the idea that people get tired of making decisions, and as such either stop making them or are more likely to make poor decisions. There is actually … Read more
Creating your Corporation or LLC is the first step towards the success of your new enterprise. But, as every entrepreneur already knows, creating the corporation (i.e. “mailing it in”), is only the first step. Here are a few additional items you should think about after your Articles of Incorporation have been filed with the WDFI. … Read more