A Few More Business Tools

I recently came across a few more easily accessible tools that might be of interest to small company owners.

Website Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Here is an interesting approach to generating a starting point for website terms of service and privacy policy.  The company Legal River (with law firm General Counsel PC) has made a few tools available on its site to help users generate website Terms of Service and a Privacy Policy.   These tools can provide a good starting point.  I think the Privacy Policy is pretty basic and would not be suited for use in California.  The Terms of Service are more extensive, but would still need some tailoring for specific business needs.  However, each of these would be useful for the business owner to review and become familiar with before getting a lawyer involved.  In many cases, they will help you define your needs and avoid some legal costs related to sizing up the business needs.  When possible, I encourage my clients to review similar industry contracts and terms to get a feel for commonly used principles.  This helps us more efficiently arrive at a finished product that serves the client well.

(Legal River is a lawyer sourcing service that appears to help users find business legal help.  It’s an interesting idea, but I’m not a fan of relying on anonymous web listing or directory services to secure good business legal counsel.  I’m sure that very good lawyers participate in these types of services.   However, I think a company is best served by seeking out referrals from trusted sources and then speaking with prospective legal counsel to understand their practice style, experience, etc. )

Dynamic Cap Table Simulator. Here is a neat equity simulator that can help you analyze different elements and implications of the capital raising process.  This tool is best suited for angel and venture capital funded companies.  Set aside a nice chunk of time to play around with it.