UPDATE: the slide deck from WTIA’s Founder Cohort 7 Legal Workshop (held April 15) is now available!

“Patent Bar Date Dangers, Provisional Applications, NDAs, Inventors and Ownership,” as presented by Kevan Morgan, can be viewed here.

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Seed IP Law Group LLP is a proud sponsor of the 7th Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) Founder Cohort Program. The virtual Founder Cohort program fosters a robust, equity-centered technology sector that empowers thriving communities in Washington State and beyond. The program helps 20-30 seed-stage tech startups grow in scale over the course of a 6-month timeframe. Specifically, the program provides tech startups with a roadmap that guides them through milestones such as growing their revenue, securing funding, and expanding their team. Each startup is headquartered in Washington, has at least one product in development, has an annual revenue of less than $1 million, and has passed a rigorous application process. Led by a committee of experienced tech founders and entrepreneurs — including Dave Parker, a 5x founder, mentor, and author; Susan Preston of SeaChange Fund; and Leslie Feinzaig of Graham & Walker — the program supports each startup and guides them through the crucial stages of fundraising, corporate governance, and customer development. The program aligns with WTIA’s effort to support entrepreneurs in Washington’s booming tech industry. 

“Companies typically join Founder Cohort at a critical juncture in their growth trajectory. It takes a village of experts and dedicated partners to help a startup grow and scale from a fledgling business to its next phase, which often determines its future success or failure,” said Nick Ellingson, WTIA Startup Ambassador and Director of Products. “With that in mind, we built the program specifically to serve founders’ unique challenges, and we believe that having a solid network and support system can really help these companies springboard to a level that they might not otherwise achieve as quickly or as efficiently on their own.”

The Founder Cohort program has created a culture of success among the startups they have collaborated with in the past. Since the program’s inception three years ago, participants from the previous six Cohorts have raised more than $100 million in funding.

Specifically, those selected for the WTIA Founder Cohort Program will learn:

  ·  How to fundraise (running a fundraising process, term sheets, cap tables, etc.)

  ·  How to manage a board of directors

  ·  Corporate governance (accounting, legal, etc.)

  ·  Customer development and go to market strategies

WTIA's goal is to help invest in its ecosystem and use its connections, sponsors, and partners to support the next generation of companies via mentorship, education, coaching, and connections. WTIA's also wants to connect early stage entrepreneurs with similarly staged peers to build cohorts of connected founders that grow together. 

The program is completely virtual and kicks off with a boot camp spread out over 3 days focused on all things fundraising. From there, WTIA will have workshops every 2-3 weeks on stage appropriate topics that you can implement in your company right away. This program is free to apply for, free to participate in, and there will be no equity exchanged.

On April 15, from 11:00 a.m.- Noon, Seed IP will host a virtual Intellectual Property 101 Workshop for the 30 tech startups who were selected for the 7th WTIA Founder Cohort Program. Attorneys from Seed IP will deliver a workshop focused on patent inventorship and ownership, bar date issues, provisional applications, NDAs, and other topics related to protecting IP.

The following Seed IP partners are scheduled to participate in the workshop, presenting “Patent Bar Date Dangers, Provisional Applications, NDAs, Inventors and Ownership":

Jim Baunach | Partner, Seed IP Law Group

Kevan L. Morgan | Partner, Seed IP Law Group

Brooke W. Quist | Partner, Seed IP Law Group

To view the complete list of the 30 tech startups selected for Cohort 7, click here and here.

Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) is a trade association unifying the voice of the technology community in Washington State.

Learn more about the WTIA Founder Cohort Program

Learn more about WTIA

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