This book deserves to be on the shelf of every entrepreneur. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law will take you on a virtual tour of the start-up process, and beyond, from the legal perspective. As experienced entrepreneurs understand, any business is a web of relationships, many of which are detailed in legal documents. This is the case for the relationship (establishment) of the entity with the state, relationships between co-founders, relationships between employees and the company, relationship between the company and its investors, suppliers, customers, etc. The legal foundation for all of these is clearly explained, and this book includes a wealth of practical information that will help any entrepreneur to work more efficiently and effectively with their legal counsel.

I've been a CEO for 17 years, and recently became involved with another startup company. Although there was an attorney on the board, I wasn't certain that the corporate form that had been selected was optimal. This book was recommended by the Stanford Center for Entrepreneurship as a great resource, so I picked it up. It has turned out to be very valuable. After reading the chapter on corporate form we switched from an LLC to a C Corp. I found myself advising some pretty smart lawyers on this issue.

The book covers many other topics relevant to startup companies, such as selecting an attorney, forming a board, and developing a stock options plan. What I like most is the authors' ability to provide just the right amount of background information (unavoidable when discussing legal issues) and immediately demonstrating practical implications. There are some useful charts outlining various approaches and their pros and cons: for example, I found the chart on corporate forms (LLC vs. C corp. vs. S corp., etc.) terrific.

The authors use numerous real-life case studies to bring concepts to life. Also, a very nice feature of the book is a substantial fictitious case study that is advanced at the end of every chapter, illustrating that chapter's key points.

The chapter organization of the book by topic makes it easy to pick and choose the sections you want to read. The order of the chapters is a good roadmap for the order in which an entrepreneur would want to consider the issues. The chapter on choosing and managing a lawyer will itself save you far more money than you'll spend on this book.

This is an excellent guide for the do-it-yourself entrepreneur. It is a step by step guide for getting your business started. It also addresses the methods for getting good service from legal firms and others and how they work. Overall, I really enjoyed this text and would highly recommend it to others.

I find the book to be very practical, and extremely helpful to entrepreneurs who are in the process of starting companies. I highly recommend this book to first-time entrepreneurs...

Any person beginning a new start-up should pick this up before they get much further than an idea. Though geared towards the major legal issues involved in starting a company, this book covers many of the essentials of beginning and structuring a business far better than most of the other books on financing or building start-ups. I've at least looked through a dozen books on the subject and none has had better, more explicit guidance on dividing founder's equity, options, funding relationship and so much more. I cannot recommend this book highly enough; you'll be at a disadvantage without it. You can view other reviews of entrepreneur books via my reviewer profile.

highly readable and informative primer on basic business law principles and their application within the context of early stage and maturing companies (from day one of the business to ipo). its use of examples is also excellent. chapter 13 (Human Resources) was particularly helpful -- the information on employment issues and the sample work agreement forms are enormously helpful.

i recommend reading this book before quiting your corporate job and starting your own company -- the 2nd chapter of the book, "Leaving Your Employer," highlights certain legal restrictions that may save the entrepreneur from potential headaches in the future involving their former employer.

I found this book be very insightful. Many people that start businesses rarely think of the broad legal ramifications of their business activities. This book clearly sets forth basic business and legal concepts that ALL persons entering into a business venture should consider before they begin operations.

Individuals with a legal or business background may find much of the information obvious, but to the vast majority of readers, this book is a must, if they are considering launching their own business.

This book is an extremely helpful resource for anyone interested in establishing or working for a new business.

I made practical use of several chapters within days of reading them.

Its easy-to-read style does not compromise useful depth.

I highly recommend it to anybody starting, thinking of starting, or considering working for a new enterprise.

This book is such a fabulous resource that I use it as my primary textbook for the M.B.A. course I teach at Kellogg entitled "Business Law for Entrepreneurs." All my new client entrepreneurs receive a hearty recommendation, and if that doesn't work, a plea, to read this insightful and practical guide.

Craig C. Bradley, Senior Partner/Co-Leader, Technology Group, Freeborn & Peters, Chicago, Illinois, Adjunct Assistant Professor, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business, Northwestern University

I'm a Silicon Valley executive and entrepreneur. I had to negotiate a term sheet to raise a venture capital round for my company, having never done so. The clear, concise, "human readable" advice in the book gave me all the juice I needed to swing a great deal. What's the ROI on that? And it was a hell of a lot easier and cheaper than iterating with my lawyers.

If you're starting or running a small company, BUY THIS BOOK. It's a must-have!

THIS is the information i've been struggling to find in so many different places. WOW, was i glad to find so much useful info all in one place. Very concise!!

This book is a great reference that touches everything, taking the reader through the steps in the formation of a new company. And there are a lot of steps. But my favorite feature of the book is that it is easy to browse. Any page you open to has something interesting on it, and you can start reading there without needing to read everything that comes before. The book is stocked with short real-life examples (with the names changed) taken from the authors' own experiences as business lawyers. Separately, it has a running story of a fictitous start-up going through each of the stages dicussed. My idea of what's interesting may be influenced by the fact that I work for an eight-person start-up.