Startups

5 Facts Startups Need to Know About the GDPR

Any business that comes in contact with EU citizens will have to follow new rules as of May of this year. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), passed by EU Parliament in April 2016, directly impacts businesses in the US, EU and elsewhere. Its purpose is to set uniform standards for data protection and prevent

The 3 Most Important Facts About IP Insurance for Startups

Too many companies ignore one of the most common legal risks out there: intellectual property (IP) infringement. In past posts, we’ve talked about the high frequency of IP litigation as well as the dangers posed by patent trolls. But let’s keep it simple — what do you need to know? There are a few important

Startup D&O Insurance: What You Need to Know

D&O insurance for startups is necessary for many reasons: protects your scaling efforts, meets investor requirements, safeguards executives, etc. But what does this coverage actually provide and how much will it cost you? Let’s clear the air.

Errors and Omissions Risks Checklist for Startups

We track down Errors and Omissions (E&O) policies for the majority of the companies we work with.  It’s extremely important coverage for anyone leveraging technology or social media, which most startups constantly do.   Even using things as simple as AWS or Facebook login can expose your company to a lawsuit,  and in a fast-paced,

Insurance for Bitcoin: 3 Facts Startups Need to Know

Bitcoin has been occupying the news but unless your only interest is today’s this minute’s price, there are still plenty of unanswered questions for startups. Jamie Dimon calls Bitcoin investors “stupid” and John McAfee says the price is going to $1 million by 2020. Meanwhile the grey area in-between is filled with noise. So we want to

Startup Risk Tips: Optimizing your Insurance Policies

Insurance should be seen as more of an investment than a cost, but given the busy and chaotic lives of Founders, it sometimes becomes a check-the-box activity.  When utilized properly, companies can get value from their policies well beyond that generated by a “set it and forget it” approach.  Here are a few tips to optimize your insurance policies

What You Need to Know About Insurance When You Sell Your Company

The goal of so many high growth startups today is “the exit.” Big companies are happy to meet this demand. They’re looking to expand market share or improve their product and an efficient solution has been snapping up these startups. Experts believe this trend will only accelerate over the next year. While there’s an understandable

Business Insurance Package Policies & How They Benefit Startups

Choosing commercial insurance can be daunting.  You want your company to be properly protected, but you don’t want to break the bank. Luckily, that’s why business insurance package policies exist! Insurance carriers frequently bundle various coverage types together, providing a cost-effective approach compared to acquiring them individually. This strategy not only keeps expenses in check

Your Business Insurance Covers Stolen Laptops — But How?

The holiday season is upon us!  Time to lock up the offices and head home to spend some time with family and friends.  Everyone’s taking some time off, right? Unfortunately, it’s ‘one of the busiest and most lucrative times of the year for criminals. It’s not uncommon for us Founder Shield folks to come back from

How Insurance Companies Measure Payroll (and Bill You For It)

If you’re a growing business operating in the 21st century, you’ve most likely read about or experienced the importance of separating salaried employees from 1099 workers (Independent Contractors).  If you’re less well-read on the subject, bottom line is this: at the end of the year, your workers compensation insurer will “audit” your payroll and charge

Business Insurance 101: HealthTech, Health Marketplaces, & Telemedicine

Using Debt Financing as a Bridge Into Your Next Round

This is a guest post from Meredith Wood, Head of Content and Editor in Chief at Fundera. If your company relies primarily on equity financing to fuel growth, chances are you haven’t considered debt financing as an option. After all, if you are used to or considering going through the traditional Seed to Series A to

2015 Employment Lawsuits: Where are Startups at Risk?

2015 employment practices lawsuit data is in: which states are at the highest risk? Every company encounters a hiring situation in which things don’t play out quite as planned — hiring is a liability.  A candidate is overly demanding or misaligned with the hiring team, an employee didn’t perform as expected or wasn’t a cultural

The Importance of Tail Insurance Coverage for Startups

A tail insurance policy is one of the most important risk mitigation tools for a startup approaching an exit. The mission for every founder is pretty much the same: get some traction, get funded, scale rapidly, and hit an exit opportunity.  While the occasional unicorn might be fortunate enough to IPO, most startups go the

4 Key Things to Look for On Your Business Insurance Quotes

It would be extremely surprising if you didn’t have some questions when looking at your first business insurance quotes.  They’re extremely detailed and certainly not the easiest document to digest.  Here’s a quick overview of the major items you should be looking at on your quote. [Note: this article is mainly pertaining to errors and

Getting Business Insurance for On-Demand Startups

Top Reasons Your Startup Needs Product Liability Insurance

Product liability insurance is an extremely important piece to the risk management puzzle, particularly for startups that sell a tangible product.  Usually included in a General Liability policy (though sometimes offered standalone), product liability insurance protects your company from liability lawsuits related to bodily injury or property damage caused by product defects. Whether you’re e-commerce

Best HR Practices for Your Startup

This is a guest post from Amy Klimek, VP of HR at ZipRecruiter.com. Startups cannot run their businesses the way established companies can. Established companies leverage their name and stability to attract the best talent in the industry. Your startup does not have an established name or track record of stability, but you do have other principles

The Business Insurance Renewal Checklist (for Startups)

Business insurance renewals are usually uncharted territory for a young startup.  Typically, venture-backed startups experience significantly more change/growth year over year compared to your standard new business venture.  It’s important to understand how this affects your startup’s insurance coverage and how to ensure you’re properly protected.  Here’s the “checklist” of items to be aware of as your policies renew.

The 2013 Target Data Breach: Insurance Coverage Recap

Retail Giant Target was hit with a massive data breach incident during the holiday season of 2013.  We posted a few articles outlining the severity of the breach and speculating on how cyber insurance may be their lifeline.  Here’s a quick follow up on the claims the company has seen since the incident. VentureBeat recently reported

Startup Risk Tips: Don’t Let Your Business Insurance Lapse

Sometimes things don’t go quite as planned and your company ends up a bit more cash strapped than anticipated at year end.  The typical gut reaction is to pull the rip chord and cut any and all “extraneous” expenses.  Insurance is considered by some to be one of those expenses.  Here’s why you shouldn’t be quick to

Year in Review: 2014 Cyber Attacks (What Startups Should Know)

2014 Cyber Attacks Reviewed For the last four years, cyber risk management firm Net Diligence has done a report on cyber insurance claims for the year…and 2014 has been a hell of a year for cyber attacks.  This year’s report has been published and has some very interesting findings pertaining to the startup community.