Being a General Counsel at a venture-backed startup can be a very challenging, and sometimes isolating, role.  Often you may the first and only lawyer at your company.  You are expected to know everything about everything, and you need to strike an appropriate balance between your legal paranoia and your company's acceptable level of risk.

TechGC and the Fullstack GC Conference grew out of an organic need for peer support and collaboration among its members, who now support each other through educational events, jobs, sharing data and informal advice on legal and business issues.

When engineers cross disciplines they are referred to as "fullstack." At the Fullstack GC Conference, members share practical peer-to-peer guidance for those GCs aspiring to be the "Fullstack GC."

Robin Schulman, General Counsel, New Relic and Paul Sieminski, General Counsel, Automattic

Moderated by Joshua Cook, Partner, Gunderson Dettmer

In preparing, consider what might be most important to a potential acquirer in your space (e.g., talent acquisition, founder retention, IP issues).  Open source licenses and privacy have been trending issues for acquirers like Google.

You can use an M&A context to help frame why issues are important to key team members.  One tactic is to ask for a general ledger for the last two years and look for gaps.  For example, you may discover that your engineers are entering into click-wrap agreements without your knowledge.

A special skill of great GCs is to build internal consensus and make the case to get the deal done.

The GC is usually involved from the very beginning at the NDA or LOI stage, whereas outside counsel may come in later in the process. The GC has the secret sauce of institutional knowledge while outside counsel typically has more experience with the transaction process.  It’s important for the GC to socialize any issues with external counsel and key stakeholders early in the process.

IQ without EQ is a Ferrari on Ice.  You have all this power but you can’t go anywhere because you are spinning your wheels.  There are diminishing marginal returns on IQ.

All startups are Greek dramas, some ending in tragedy and others in triumph.

Processes and Procedures = Machines.  Machines make you a better lawyer, make your teams more efficient, improve your career and standing in the company and will help your company deliver long-term value to its shareholders.

Moderated by Evan Engstrom, Executive Director, Engine

Engaging early can have benefits.  The first time you are on a policy maker's radar, ideally it should be for something good.

Build key policy relationships and engage with trade associations. Otherwise, it's hard when you don’t know what you don’t know. 

When talking to regulators, look for opportunities to tell the pro-innovation case and reframe the conversation.  Why is your company good for society, jobs, the economy or otherwise?