The Waeldner Wire

DAY-TO-DAY COUNSEL TO VENTURE-BACKED AND PUBLICLY TRADED TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES

Spring Cleaning Your Contracts

I’d be lying if I said that I enjoy spring cleaning. It’s dirty, tiring, and inevitably involves coming face to face with insects and/or rodents that have found a home in or around ours. But I do it anyway — every year. Not only does… Read more

A Contract Call Worth Making

Last month, I offered some suggestions for getting your contracts signed more quickly. One of those — “Educate Before You Negotiate” — highlighted the value of helping those on the other side of the negotiation understand what you do and how you do it. To… Read more

Get Your Contracts Signed More Quickly

I enjoy the contract development and negotiation process. I’ve been doing it for nearly 30 years, and it rarely gets old. I’m guessing you may not feel the same way. For most businesspeople, contracts are not fun; they are simply the final step that needs to… Read more

Carrots or Sticks… Which One Is Your Sales Team Using?

There are any number of reasons to be glad that 2020 is finally over. I won’t list them individually (you’re welcome), but I think I speak for a large part of America, if not humanity, when I say that I am happy to have turned… Read more

Contract Negotiations — Why Your Sales Team Needs to Participate

As you might expect, our family’s Thanksgiving celebration this year was not “normal.” Festive and fun — but definitely not normal. Typically, we have several relatives visiting — some on the day itself, others over the long weekend. Most years, by the time Sunday rolls… Read more

NDAs — A First (And Critical) Step When Doing Business

Gone are the days when business discussions and information sharing occurred in the form of a formal, structured meeting. Today, information flows freely and all of us rely on a wide-ranging, ever-growing mix of communication vehicles — email, videoconferencing, social, text, and more. Given this… Read more

Start Your Agreements Off On The Right Foot

I’ve reviewed countless vendor agreements over the years. Along the way, I’ve seen order forms, terms and conditions, and ordering documents of all shapes and sizes. Many have been well done. Others have been embarrassingly bad — unclear language, inconsistent terminology, misspellings, broken links, rampant… Read more

Play Your Position In Contract Negotiations

My son Matt is now 16. Back when he was eight, he began playing Pee Wee football. He loved playing, but he had one big problem — he couldn’t decide which position to play. He liked them all. Even more, he liked how each position… Read more

Beware of “Best Efforts”

As the father of three children, I’ve coached my fair share of youth sports teams over the years. Baseball, softball, basketball, skiing… you name it. Thinking back on my coaching tenure, I probably relied on one phrase more than any other: “Do your best!” Nothing… Read more

Are You Ready to Play Ball?

Come July 23rd, Major League Baseball is set to kick off a shortened, 60-game season.That’s only about one-third as long as usual, but for a starving sports fan like myself, I’ll take it. Of course, nobody is happier to see things resume than the players…. Read more