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Antone Johnson Tech General Counsel; ex Google, eHarmony, MySpace

Berkeley, CA

Former consumer Internet VP and in-house counsel now serving as fractional GC. product and tech transactions counsel to startups and growth companies. Valley native, California licensed attorney offering no-nonsense legal, compliance, risk and Trust/Safety advice on demand. Educated at Columbia Law School and trained at Wilson Sonsini, I served for a decade in wide-ranging in-house roles at a series of publicly traded and growth-stage tech companies through turbulent boom & bust cycles. As a result, I bring deep product/tech literacy, industry perspective and pragmatism rarely found in a law…

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Member since December 2012

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Clarity

Antone Johnson

Berkeley, CA

Former consumer Internet VP and in-house counsel now serving as fractional GC. product and tech transactions counsel to startups and growth companies. Valley native, California licensed attorney offering no-nonsense legal, compliance, risk and Trust/Safety advice on demand.

Educated at Columbia Law School and trained at Wilson Sonsini, I served for a decade in wide-ranging in-house roles at a series of publicly traded and growth-stage tech companies through turbulent boom & bust cycles. As a result, I bring deep product/tech literacy, industry perspective and pragmatism rarely found in a law firm environment.

$5.83/min

90

90 Calls

37

37 Reviews

39 minutes
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Startup Law Intellectual Property Legal Advice Securities Law Legal Services Legal Compliance Legal Assistance Privacy Law Employment Law Internet Law

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VC, Angel Funding Term Sheets and Deal Documents Demystified

I've spent 20 years in the trenches negotiating and executing capital raising transactions, from "friends and family" pre-seed financing through VC rounds, IPOs and public company M&A exits. Serving entrepreneurs, tech startups and emerging angel investors, I strive to level the playing field between VC/finance professionals who live and breathe these deals and talented founders who are still developing fluency in the often-esoteric minutiae of venture finance, securities and corporate governance. As a "dual citizen" of legal and technology industries, I've written guest columns for WSJ, TechCrunch and Forbes, among others, and a series on convertible debt financing for Gust blog.

http://bottomlinelawgroup.com/2011/10/31/convertible-note-financing/

Intellectual Property: Startups, Consumer Internet, Social Media

Most recently Android product counsel at Google. Previously, as head of Legal for eHarmony, I managed the full range of global copyright, trademark and patent matters for a $200M+ consumer Internet business built on proprietary technology — as well as all of the company's other legal, regulatory and government affairs. I liked to joke that I put the "general" in General Counsel. That's no less true now that I run an independent practice serving entrepreneurs, startups, angel investors, technologists and other contributors to emerging growth ventures in technology and digital media. Yes, I can dissect VC term sheets and delve into the minutiae of stock option agreements, but that's only one side of a unique "switch hitter" practice rarely seen in the compartmentalized world of large law firms.

In this unique speciality, for 20 years I've helped clients navigate the maze of corporate, securities, equity compensation, intellectual property, privacy, online liability, consumer protection and related matters at the frontier of media and commerce as they've moved from offline to online, social, mobile, wearable, VR/AR technologies and beyond. With the benefit of experience as senior management at a household-name consumer Internet company, I can act as advocate, sounding board, deal sherpa and communications advisor at all stages from pre-incorporation through M&A exit.

Social technology (including social media and new mobile communication tools) is my area of exceptional depth. Prior to eHarmony, I served as original MySpace legal counsel during the 2004-06 social media explosion, navigating the historic convergence of tech and entertainment industries as the site rocketed from 1 million to 100+ million users. In that crucible, our three-lawyer team forged the foundation of a new specialty — social media law — with unparalleled expertise in online social / user-generated content-related legal and risk issues. I brought that perspective to bear in-house at eHarmony for three years, and subsequently to private practice.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070304577395953754702524.html

Business Law for Startups: Tech Products, Platforms, Ventures

Most recently served as Android product counsel at Google. Previously, as head of Legal for eHarmony, I liked to joke that I put the "general" in General Counsel. That's no less true now that I run an independent practice serving entrepreneurs, startups, angel investors, technologists and other contributors to emerging growth ventures in technology and digital media. Yes, I can dissect VC term sheets and delve into the minutiae of stock option agreements, but that's only one side of a unique "switch hitter" practice rarely seen in the compartmentalized world of large law firms.

In this unique speciality, for 20 years I've helped clients navigate the maze of corporate, securities, equity compensation, intellectual property, privacy, online liability, consumer protection and related matters at the frontiers of media and commerce as they've moved from offline to online, social, mobile, virtual, and wearable. Beyond pure legal subject matter, with the benefit of experience as senior management at a household-name consumer Internet company, I can act as advocate, sounding board, deal sherpa and communications advisor at all stages from pre-incorporation through M&A exit.

Prior to eHarmony, I served as original MySpace legal counsel during the 2004-06 social media explosion, navigating the historic convergence of tech and entertainment industries as the site rocketed from 1 million to 100+ million users. Recent emphasis has shifted along with the industry to mobile-first, location-based and VR/AR technologies; cloud services and SaaS infrastructure powering them; and innovative financing tools such as equity crowdfunding, cryptocurrency, blockchain token sales (ICO) and other fintech.

http://gust.com/angel-investing/startup-blogs/author/AntoneJohnson

Member since December 2012