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Practice Areas · Founded 2018 · San Francisco · Series A–C counsel

Four pillars.
No BigLaw theater.

We are an intentionally narrow shop. Corporate, commercial, employment, and venture matters — handled at senior-partner attention, on flat-fee terms that respect a cap table.

§ I — The Scope

Four practice pillars, deliberately kept narrow.

We say no to litigation, IP prosecution, regulatory defense, and a dozen other practice areas other firms would happily bill against. The narrower the aperture, the sharper the work inside it. Here is exactly what we do — and what we won't pretend to do.

  1. 01

    Pillar One

    Corporate & Venture

    Entity formation, governance, equity and option plan design, board mechanics, and the full lifecycle of venture financings — SAFEs, convertible notes, priced Series A through C, secondary sales, and founder exits. We have closed 412 financings across 14 U.S. states since 2021.

    • Recent matter Series B for a 92-person developer-tools company — led the SPA, investor rights agreement, and 280(g) cap-table mechanics in 11 days.
    • Recent matter Bridge round structuring for a Series A healthtech operator navigating a down round, including anti-dilution modeling in WhimiStack.
    • Recent matter Conversion of a 40-investor SAFE stack to a priced equity round ahead of a strategic acquisition.
    Read the full corporate & venture scope →
  2. 02

    Pillar Two

    Commercial Contracts

    Customer MSAs, vendor agreements, SaaS subscriptions, channel and reseller partnerships, data processing addenda, and the unglamorous middle of every revenue line. Same-day redlines on standard NDAs, MSAs, and SaaS terms — a service no other boutique launched until we did in 2022.

    • Recent matter Global MSA negotiation with a Fortune 100 procurement team for an AI infrastructure client, including SLA carve-outs and data residency.
    • Recent matter Standalone SaaS subscription redesign for a vertical-AI company replacing 14 legacy vendor templates with one framework.
    • Recent matter Channel partner program rollout for a 220-person marketplace operator, spanning 38 international reseller agreements.
    Read the full commercial scope →
  3. 03

    Pillar Three

    Mergers & Acquisitions

    Buy-side and sell-side representation for venture-backed operators: LOIs, definitive agreements, disclosure schedules, earnouts, indemnity baskets, and post-close integration. We are a transactional shop, not a courtroom shop — but our contracts survive contact with opposing counsel.

    • Recent matter Sell-side representation of a 140-person vertical SaaS company to a strategic acquirer, with a 24-month earnout structure.
    • Recent matter Acquisition of a competing AI workflow tool by a Series C portfolio company, including retention pool and 280G analysis.
    • Recent matter Cross-border tuck-in for a Series B healthtech operator, navigating CFIUS-adjacent disclosure in 9 business days.
    Read the full M&A scope →
  4. 04

    Pillar Four

    Employment & Equity

    Offer letters, executive employment agreements, separation terms, equity grants, RSU/ISO mechanics, contractor classification, and the inevitable founder departures. We sit between HR and the cap table so neither one gets the short end.

    • Recent matter Executive transition package for a departing co-founder of a unicorn, including accelerated vesting and post-board obligations.
    • Recent matter Company-wide RSU conversion from ISO grants following a tender offer, coordinated with 83(b) elections.
    • Recent matter Independent contractor misclassification audit and remediation for a 380-person marketplace across three states.
    Read the full employment scope →

§ II — The Throughput

Volume, in numerals that don't round up.

We don't run a marquee of testimonial blurbs. We run a closing log. Every engagement below was billed on flat-fee terms — no billable-hour theater, no padded entries, no associate hand-offs.

Financings closed, 2021–2024
412
SAFEs, convertible notes, and priced equity rounds across 14 U.S. states.
Median contract-review turnaround
19hrs
Versus a BigLaw industry standard of four to six business days, end to end.
Closed matters on file
1,200+
Scope-qualified cost comparison baseline across flat-fee engagements.
Aggregate client financing closed
$4.1B
Across all matter types since the firm was founded in 2018.

§ III — A Note From the Partners

“We left BigLaw because we were tired of being paid to attend meetings. A boutique that pretends to be everything ends up excellent at nothing — so we drew the aperture at four practice pillars and refuse to widen it. Every partner here has direct mobile access to every client. There is no associate layer between you and a ten-year practitioner, and there never will be. That is the entire business model.”

Maren Whimislaw, Managing Partner Cooley, Gunderson Dettmer — founding partner, Whimislaw & Partners

§ IV — The Next Step

Sixty minutes. One partner. A flat fee, billed up front.

A paid founder strategy consultation is the fastest way to find out whether we're the right outside counsel for your next matter. Bring a term sheet, a redline, a cap table, or a hard question. Leave with a scoped engagement letter and a number.

535 Mission Street, 14th Floor · San Francisco, CA 94105 · +1 (415) 555-0142 · Hours: Mon–Fri, 8:30–18:30 PT