42 min

Laying the legal foundation when starting a business Shift by Alberta Innovates

    • Entrepreneurship

Starting a business can be fun and rewarding. It's also challenging and not for the faint of heart. There are many matters that need to be taken into account. And legal considerations are amongst those. As our guest on today's episode, Paul Barbeau, puts it, "startups tend to be really cost-sensitive. And they certainly don't want to retain a legal firm that's going to engage in a real legal overkill. All that said though, there are some core principles that startups should really give some time to thinking through upfront and get some basic legal help when they go through that process and that'll lay the foundation for successful growth ."

So let's lay some foundation together. Welcome to Shift.

BIO

Paul Barbeau is a partner in the Calgary office of the Canadian law firm McMillan LLP. A significant part of his practice is focused on helping emerging companies from their initial organization to exit transactions. This includes:
• Early stage organization
• Founder and shareholder agreements
• Capital raising, including angel and venture capital financing, and securities law compliance
• Licensing arrangements and other strategic transactions
• Acquisitions, mergers and sales transactions
• Public offerings

He acts for clients in a range of industries, including technology, health-care, agritech, clean energy and natural resources. He has a law degree from the University of Toronto and an undergraduate degree in business from Brigham Young University.





Alberta Innovates doesn't recommend any particular firm when seeking legal advice when starting a business.  Exercise due diligence and shop around for a lawyer that you feel is best for your circumstances.
Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

Starting a business can be fun and rewarding. It's also challenging and not for the faint of heart. There are many matters that need to be taken into account. And legal considerations are amongst those. As our guest on today's episode, Paul Barbeau, puts it, "startups tend to be really cost-sensitive. And they certainly don't want to retain a legal firm that's going to engage in a real legal overkill. All that said though, there are some core principles that startups should really give some time to thinking through upfront and get some basic legal help when they go through that process and that'll lay the foundation for successful growth ."

So let's lay some foundation together. Welcome to Shift.

BIO

Paul Barbeau is a partner in the Calgary office of the Canadian law firm McMillan LLP. A significant part of his practice is focused on helping emerging companies from their initial organization to exit transactions. This includes:
• Early stage organization
• Founder and shareholder agreements
• Capital raising, including angel and venture capital financing, and securities law compliance
• Licensing arrangements and other strategic transactions
• Acquisitions, mergers and sales transactions
• Public offerings

He acts for clients in a range of industries, including technology, health-care, agritech, clean energy and natural resources. He has a law degree from the University of Toronto and an undergraduate degree in business from Brigham Young University.





Alberta Innovates doesn't recommend any particular firm when seeking legal advice when starting a business.  Exercise due diligence and shop around for a lawyer that you feel is best for your circumstances.
Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

42 min