Book Review

Starting Up and Advising an Emerging

 Massachusetts Business

Edited by Lawrence H. Gennari

Don’t let the title, “Starting Up and Advising an Emerging Massachusetts Business,” fool you, the book edited by Lawrence H. Gennari offers sound advice on launching a business anywhere.

 “Starting Up and Advising” coaches entrepreneurs step by step how to raise capital, choose the right sources and develop exit strategies that will allow entrepreneurs eventually to sell their companies or liquidate their investment. It points out how the early-stage company’s attorney can contribute to a firm’s success by responding with creativity and understanding.

The Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., a non-profit educational institution, published the work as part of its ongoing effort to provide attorneys and the public with valuable legal information.

In “Starting Up and Advising,” the book’s 11 contributing writers tackle all the critical issues that startups typically face in clear, readable prose. It consists of eight sections, each contributed by experts in capital structures, federal taxes, organization of emerging businesses, intellectual properties, employment and human resources considerations, early-stage capital formation, venture capital financing and exit strategies.

“Starting Up and Advising” walks entrepreneurs from privately held companies financed by owner, family and friends to a business with venture capital investments and banking relationships.

The chapters on business formation and tax considerations offer a thorough analysis of the basic decisions that every entrepreneur faces, but often have little knowledge of. The employment issues chapter shows that employees are still a company’s most important asset and entrepreneurs should deal with human resource issues at the start of any business.

Funding a business is still the primary challenge of all businesses – even  office-at-home types. The chapter on Venture Capital Financing is a must read for all entrepreneurs looking for funding to build a strong foundation for all businesses, especially in a challenging economic climate.  

This key chapter illustrates how the counsel for a startup plays a central role in putting a venture capital deal together. It takes an expert to identify, court, negotiate and maintain relations with a VC firm who can also educate the entrepreneur through this often lengthy and complex process.

Commonly, it’s the entrepreneur’s counsel that gets a VC deal off on the right foot. The counsel’s negotiating and closing a venture deal often sets the tone for all parties in an expected long-term relationship.

In the chapter on Early-Stage Capital Formation written by Gennari, a partner at Gadsby Hannah LLP and chairman of the firm’s Emerging Growth and Technology Practice, he explains all the necessary steps how young companies can create a financiable businesses.

Gennari writes: “Building the proverbial better mousetrap is only the first step to starting a successful business. To take the idea or prototype from concept to development and on to sales and profit, the entrepreneur must take immediate steps to develop a business that will attract financing. An experienced counselor/attorney who understands the business and legal issues involved in early-stage capital formation will play an integral part in facilitating those steps.

For more information on the “Starting Up and Advising an Emerging Massachusetts Business,” contact Gennari at lgennari@ghlaw.com.

By Frank Szivos

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Starting Up and Advising an Emerging Massachusetts Business

Don't let the title, "Starting Up and Advising an Emerging Massachusetts Business," fool you, the book edited by Lawrence H. Gennari offers sound advice on launching a business anywhere.