Experience in Legal Employment w/n Startup/Entreprenuership (primarily interested in working in SF, CA) Forum

[lsat_hopeful]

Hey!

I am interested in hearing from 2l/3l/grads about any experiences you have had working w/n the startup/entrepreneurship world - whether in-house, at a firm, or in any other capacity. Namely, what was your day-to-day like, how much interaction were you able to have with business-owners/entrepreneurs, how you found the job opportunity, etc. Would love to be able to work in SF this summer.

(Background: Currently a 1L thinking about my summer job.)

[Anonymous User]

I worked at a tech startup my 2L summer and will be going back after graduation.

What was your day-to-day like
I generally had a steady flow of contract drafting/reviewing work with smaller projects popping up all the time. There were a lot of meetings with the legal or business teams sprinkled throughout the day. These were usually internal trainings, project planning, or helping the business side with specific issues.

How much interaction were you able to have with business-owners/entrepreneurs
0-2 times a week with a c-suite executive, but this was because I was on a specific long term project. Sometimes I would work directly with someone on the business side when something came up.

How you found the job opportunity
Worked in-house my 1L summer. Someone there forwarded my resume and put in a good word.

Happy to answer other specific questions you may have.

[lsat_hopeful]

I worked at a tech startup my 2L summer and will be going back after graduation.

What was your day-to-day like
I generally had a steady flow of contract drafting/reviewing work with smaller projects popping up all the time. There were a lot of meetings with the legal or business teams sprinkled throughout the day. These were usually internal trainings, project planning, or helping the business side with specific issues.

How much interaction were you able to have with business-owners/entrepreneurs
0-2 times a week with a c-suite executive, but this was because I was on a specific long term project. Sometimes I would work directly with someone on the business side when something came up.

How you found the job opportunity
Worked in-house my 1L summer. Someone there forwarded my resume and put in a good word.

Happy to answer other specific questions you may have.

Thank you for your reply!

Can you talk a little bit more about your experience your 1L summer? How did you find the job working in-house? What was your day-to-day like there? Is it what you expected/did you enjoy it?

Also, is this the field that you wanted to go into (working with a tech-startup?)

[Anonymous User]

I worked at a tech startup my 2L summer and will be going back after graduation.

Happy to answer other specific questions you may have.

I was also very interested in this subject.. Can you let us know how salary range/bonus/incentive structures (eg. stock option?) would look like? Why do you choose to work at a startup while probably losing opportunities to learn more/in structured way from more established companies or law firms? Thanks a lot!

[Anonymous User]

Thank you for your reply!

Can you talk a little bit more about your experience your 1L summer? How did you find the job working in-house? What was your day-to-day like there? Is it what you expected/did you enjoy it?

Also, is this the field that you wanted to go into (working with a tech-startup?)

I knew I wanted to work in tech and got my 1L job through OCI at a big tech company (think GE/Boeing/etc). Day to day was a lot of legal research and memo writing. Very little corporate work and even less direct contact with the business side. The attorneys there seemed genuinely happy and many were "lifers."

[Anonymous User]

I was also very interested in this subject.. Can you let us know how salary range/bonus/incentive structures (eg. stock option?) would look like?

Compensation varies a lot between companies. On the high end, I know someone at HP that got $150k starting. If you get equity, total compensation can be competitive with biglaw depending on how much you get and how well the stock performs.

Why do you choose to work at a startup while probably losing opportunities to learn more/in structured way from more established companies or law firms? Thanks a lot!

The most important factor for me was that I really liked the group of people here. Getting the proper training/opportunities wasn't such a big concern because I knew that I was already getting more substantive work compared to my friends in biglaw. We also had biglaw partners and associates interviewing to get into the startup which made my decision a lot easier.

[Anonymous User]

Compensation varies a lot between companies. On the high end, I know someone at HP that got $150k starting. If you get equity, total compensation can be competitive with biglaw depending on how much you get and how well the stock performs.
.

Thanks. I understand that compensation varies a lot in business sector but my question was how your compensation structure at a tech startup would be. For instance, large companies like HP or Google would definitely pay well but I am interested in a tech "startup" backed by venture capitals and who has up and running products/services. Think Flurry 5 years ago before it got acquired by Yahoo. Not a startup that was just started in their parent's garage, nor Google.