On today’s Tank Talk! We welcome Chris Harvey, principal lawyer at Harvey Esquire APC to talk “Emerging Managers Legals 101.”

Chris Background: Chris Harvey has been practicing law for 12 years as a venture capital lawyer with a focus on emerging fund managers, accelerators, venture studios, GPs and other venture investors.

Chris regularly represents venture capital fund managers and investors in structuring fund formations and transaction documents such as LPAs, LLC/operating agreements, Series Seed, Series A, mergers & acquisitions, and all matters related to the venture capital lifecycle.

Chris is based out of Los Angeles and shares amazing content on his blog LawofVC.substack.com.

In this episode we discuss:

01:47 Considerations when choosing a lawyer for your fund

04:12 The questions you should ask a potential lawyer

05:27 Pitfalls of choosing the wrong lawyer

06:52 Fund structures

11:10 Formation and fund expenses

15:10 GP commitments

17:40 Clawbacks versus commitments

22:13 What are hurdles

25:43 Reporting requirements

28:28 Initial closure and rolling closures

34:12 Offering GP economics to close strategic investors

36:10 Budgeting for legal expenses

37:29 Using Angelist to support your initial legal work

38:50 Giving away carry as incentive to outside advisors as incentive or compensation

41:00 Is venture legal ripe for disruption?

44:18 Can VCs hedge against SPACs?

46:58 Chris’s best advice for emerging managers

Books Chris Recommends:

The Business of Venture Capital, Third Edition

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Podcast production support provided by Agent Bee Agency

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