Perspective: The Gap Between Founders & Lawyer

Haseeb Qureshi
Aug 22, 2017 · 4 min read
If there was any more space between founders and lawyers, we’d end up with the Grand Canyon.

Why do founders and entrepreneurs need lawyers? That’s a great question isn’t it?

Really it’s not an outlandish question.

Come on and look. You can go to YC and download their safe agreements and take money almost instantly. You can go download YC’s SaaS licensing agreement and almost instantly sell your services — and have a pretty good contract right off the bat.

Pressure’s on the Law Industry

So in this day and age, there is an increasing pressure on lawyers to create the value that founders and entrepreneurs really need.

I think a lot of them aren’t really reaching that. And I think most founders and entrepreneurs agree with that. Why? Because typically lawyers just want to charge you. They want to bill you. They want to perform the service and then give you some kind of output. No matter how good/bad/ineffective the output is. Their argument is “well we spent the time, so that’s the bill.”

If lawyers could just take an ounce of what’s happening in the business world for entrepreneurs and founders, they can figure out how to shrink this communication and knowledge-share gap between founders and lawyers.

So how the hell can we shrink this gap between founders and lawyers? It starts with how founders find and interact with lawyers. Here are things every founder should keep in mind:

Perspective’s Key

Back when I was managing bands and a few other no-name musicians, I’d always tell an artist: “You either want the manager that’s crazy connected and can make one phone that’d grow your career. Or you want the manager that’ll understand your point of view and fight like crazy for you, even when it’s tough.” The same damn philosophy goes for working with attorneys.

Most lawyers are knowledgeable in their respective fields. But knowledge alone doesn’t guarantee that advice is going to work for you. You have to find someone who gets your perspective.

If you find someone who understands your perspective, along with someone who’s knowledgeable and cares, you’ve landed one of the strongest allies you’ll ever find while running your business. That advice rings true to anyone on your team, much beyond your attorney.

Know Your Limits

So important to know your limits. That self-awareness will unlock so many doors. That self-awareness also unlocks a wealth of gratitude you’ll have for others possessing the skills and know-how that you’ll need.

Same goes for your budget, timeline, pet peeves in working with hired help — the list goes on. The more that you can jive with any attorney working for (and with) you, the more value you can extract and grow your businesses. It’s that simple.

Be straight up honest about what you’re willing (or able) to pay. Even more importantly, be clear about when you need “x” and “y” to unlock this “z” opportunity that could be massive for you.

Experience Matters

Unless you’re rounding out some board seats, you’ll want to find team members that have strongly demonstrated hard-skills. You want people to act. Not to talk, sit, and ultimately let time slip between their fingers.

Same goes for an attorney. Not all attorneys are up-to-date or knowledge on all parts of law. Simple. So when you’re finding an attorney to work with, see if they have the experience that matters directly to you. If they don’t, find someone else! Why waste your time and money on anyone that’ll introduce massive amounts of risk to your business, all because it’s questionable whether they’ll deliver.

I’m a firm believer of giving people chances and helping folks grow. There is a way to encourage this in a low-risk environment. I just don’t think any solo attorney should be learning on the job for any founders or entrepreneurs. Make sure their experience matters and matches with you!

Accelerating “Why”

As an entrepreneur who has relied on the services of lawyers, and as a licensed attorney, I’ll firmly hold that an attorney’s perspective can help accelerate any business. We’re trained to think about scenarios in ways that normally time would help answer. By thinking through those scenarios today, we can better refine our vision and our business’s “why”.

Comment, Coffee, Email, etc.

I’m personally fighting to shrink this gap between founders and lawyers. If I have to do that with one comment, message, email, coffee, breakfast and lunch at a time, then damn it, that’s how it’ll be. This is important. It's my thesis. Now, it’s ingrained into my identity.

The more founders and lawyers talk, share perspectives, share knowledge, the better their businesses will be — on both sides. ++

Haseeb Qureshi (HQ) is a TN licensed attorney and technical founder with roots in music & design. Love people, love life. Morehous Legal Attorney & EIR. Audiohand CEO. Follow him at https://medium.com/@_hq.

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Haseeb Qureshi

Written by

TN attorney, technical founder, roots in music + design, love people, love life @morehouslegal Attorney & EIR, UTK Entrepreneurship Lecturer, @audiohand CEO

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