Despite all of the artistry that goes into making a game, at some point early in the development process the question must be asked, “How are we going to make
Continue Reading A Primer on Game Monetization
Seeking foreign investors for your tech startup? Congress says, “not so fast.”
The U.S. Congress is currently considering legislation that would tap the brakes on foreign direct investment in the United States, particularly on investments in sensitive industries like artificial intelligence, robotics, and semiconductors. We know: you’re saying we already have that in the form of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (known as CFIUS).
Continue Reading Seeking foreign investors for your tech startup? Congress says, “not so fast.”
Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence and Joint Conduct
Over the past few years, sophisticated pricing algorithms and artificial intelligence have attracted the attention of antitrust and competition enforcers. These new technologies interpret and respond to market conditions with far more precision, agility, and consistency than their human counterparts. As a result, they may require practitioners to develop new ways of thinking about joint conduct such as price-fixing conspiracies. But to what extent do these innovations really alter traditional antitrust analysis under Section 1 of the Sherman Act? In a recent article published in Competition Policy International’s Antitrust Chronicle, we analyze existing legal doctrines and principles to see if they can offer antitrust and competition practitioners any guidance before we jump into this “brave new world.”
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Building a Kick-Ass Team: 5 Lessons
Silicon Valley Bank, along with Sheppard Mullin, recently co-hosted a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs at Runway on “Building and Motivating a Kick-Ass Team.”
The combined experience of these panelists was incredible, and we heard some great advice about how to build and manage teams, which sometimes requires ignoring conventional thinking. The following are five of those suggestions.Continue Reading Building a Kick-Ass Team: 5 Lessons
Compilation of Public Data Can be Trade Secret
A recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision confirmed that data derived from a compilation of publicly available information can constitute a protectable trade secret, particularly when a proprietary process is used to compile or search that information.
Continue Reading Compilation of Public Data Can be Trade Secret
Begin at the Beginning, Go on until You Reboot, and then… (Silicon Valley – Season 3 Finale)
Summarizing the week Jared writes, “Lewis Carroll famously said, ‘Begin at the beginning, go on to the end, and then stop.’ But that is hard advice to follow when one’s head is spinning…” It would have been just as apt if Jared had added that “here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” Because, at the end of Season 3 Pied Piper is in pretty much the same place as at the end of Season 2, and about to begin at the beginning all over again. (But at least it’s a promising place to start!)
Continue Reading Begin at the Beginning, Go on until You Reboot, and then… (Silicon Valley – Season 3 Finale)
Pied Piper Is Like Empty Tables, and Empty Chairs (Silicon Valley – Episode 27)
“Not much to report this week, dear readers! Everything is perfectly fine.” Or so says Jared. But as Gilfoyle is quick to point out, “That’s a lie.” The problem is that even though the Pied Piper product has incredible buzz, and celebrates half a million downloads, regular people can’t stand using it once they have it. Pied Piper has a scant 19,000 daily active users, and the product is being savaged in focus groups. Richard pours his efforts, and almost all of Pied Piper’s remaining funding, into trying to educate the public about what Pied Piper is and how to use it. But all his efforts yield only one convert, Bernice… and “Pipey,” a horrifying animated flute that pops up to give tips on using the product. In other words, Pied Piper is “fine” in the same way someone who lost their job and their dog in the same day is “fine”—they’re wretched and nearly broke. In desperation, Jared goes rogue and secretly starts buying daily users from a “click farm” in Bangladesh.
Continue Reading Pied Piper Is Like Empty Tables, and Empty Chairs (Silicon Valley – Episode 27)
…And The Unicorn You Rode In On (Silicon Valley – Episode 26)
Alas, poor Erlich! We knew him; ‘a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne us on his back a thousand times; and now,’ as Jared poetically recounts, “Erlich’s Bachmanity boondoggle has led to his being unceremoniously bucked off the Pied Piper unicorn, [lock-] stock-and-Board-seat-wise.” Unfortunately, Erlich’s lavish over-spending of Bachmanity’s capital, combined with his personal liability for Bachmanity’s debts, have brought Erlich to the brink of bankruptcy. He’s so desperate for funding he’s willing to sell his Pied Piper shares to dig himself out of his hole. But yet again, the “onerous terms” that Richard accepted when he took Russ Hanneman’s investment rear their ugly head. Previously these terms enabled Raviga to take control of Pied Piper’s board and fire Richard. Now Laurie uses the terms to block Erlich from selling half his shares to Russ for $5 million, and forces Erlich to sell all his shares to Raviga Capital for the exact amount of Erlich’s debts ($713,000). This leaves Erlich with nothing except extreme public ridicule.
Continue Reading …And The Unicorn You Rode In On (Silicon Valley – Episode 26)
Happy Times, High Crimes and Misdemeanors (Silicon Valley – Episode 25)
In this week’s episode of Silicon Valley, Richard enjoyed an unprecedented run of success, culminating with the official launch of Pied Piper’s platform. Richard has suffered so many setbacks, it’s little wonder he is initially reluctant to launch even a beta version—certain that the platform is buggy and will only subject Pied Piper to further mortal embarrassment. But the team convinces him to try a very limited, private beta, and the embarrassment never comes. Everyone loves it, from the beginning to the shockingly happy ending… everyone, except Monica. (But that doesn’t matter because her dissatisfaction just convinces us that we aren’t dreaming.) The team even manages to foil Gavin Belson’s attempt to steal the beta, turning the tables on him and leaving him screaming to “cut the power to building” in order to shut down the team’s zip bomb.
Continue Reading Happy Times, High Crimes and Misdemeanors (Silicon Valley – Episode 25)
Bachmanity – From Sizzle to Fizzle and Maybe Bachruptcy (Silicon Valley – Episode 24)
At its heart, Episode 24 was about relationships – from the wayward dating lives of Richard and Dinesh to Big Head and Ehrlich’s marriage of “Bachmanity,” the Pied Piper entourage found themselves faced with the messy unraveling of unsuccessful relationships. To recap some of those relationships, Richard loses a girlfriend over his obsession with code formatting, Dinesh sabotages his chances of dating a coworker by improving the video streaming and revealing “Pakistani Denzel” to be more of a “Dogface,” and Bachmanity faces the cold consequences of profligate and unnecessary spending and lack of accounting oversight. Perhaps Jared’s “spreading his plumage” to display his dating prowess was the only silver lining. Even though this episode left us feeling like the Pied Piper guys need the advice of a “Love MD” more than that of a J.D., some of their problems may still be solvable with a better understanding of the law.
Continue Reading Bachmanity – From Sizzle to Fizzle and Maybe Bachruptcy (Silicon Valley – Episode 24)
Big Head, Big Dreams, Big Mistake?
At least on paper, Episode 23 was a heartwarming story of new beginnings. Sure, Richard was subjected to an excruciating limbo during which Laurie interviewed other people for “his” job as CEO. But it turns out that was only for Richard’s own good—to make sure Richard would be seen as the best choice after a rigorous selection process—not as the guy who got his job back because he was hanging around the office. There was a smallish hiccup when the indignity of Laurie’s process caused Richard to snap and air all his pent-up grievances to a Code/Rag reporter, who could have ruined everything for Richard by printing his tirade. But fortunately, Big Head saved the day by providing the reporter an even bigger story about how Gavin Belson “scrubbed the internet” of negative references to Belson or Nucleus. By the end of the episode, Richard is reinstated as CEO and Pied Piper is relaunching work on the platform with a brand new batch of cheap, foreign engineers.
Continue Reading Big Head, Big Dreams, Big Mistake?