Brian Patterson of Gunderson Dettmer On Early Stage Financing and How To Structure Convertible Notes

Emergence Capital

Brian Patterson, Partner at Silicon Valley law firm Gunderson Dettmer, chats with Emergence’s Joe Floyd about how to best structure seed financing. In this conversation, Brian and Joe cover a number of topics including: - What are the best ways to structure early stage seed financing? What’s the difference between a convertible note and a SAFE, and when should a startup choose one or the other? - For those companies that raise on convertible notes, how do you approach board structure and governance? - What happens when people have outstanding notes and the fundraising environment turns? What are some lessons that entrepreneurs should know in those situations?