rgoksor

You're right, I did misread the note -- see updated version. Interestingly, Alibaba's IPO came at a time of accelerating revenue momentum.

How much did market size impact fundraising for Mattermark? My sense is a lot. Like Danielle, I see institutional fundraising changing for startups (http://goo.gl/R0zH4M), but I still think that the Series A is available to the right team, market, and product. See recent blog post on this by Rob Go @ nextview http://goo.gl/tmWhZB. Danielle has got a great team and product, but is the market really multi-billion? How many businesses can she really sell to and at what price point?

Orrick is a great firm but from my experience they are better for companies that are later stage. My sense is you have a greater chance of finding a great startup attorney at one of the other firms.

Really five go-to firms in the US that I would talk to as a startup: Cooley, Gunderson, Latham Watkins, Wilson Sonsini, Fenwick. All of them should have boilerplate agreements that they can help you with for low cost. They should also have some kind of "deal" for new startups that gives you some basic setup documents free and defers costs until you get financing.

More important question is to find the right partner/associate to work with. Your experience will depend more on who you work with than what firm. Ask for startup references from attorneys. Also, understand who will do the actual work for you -- law firms leverage associates so the chance that a partner will do work for you is low and if they do it will be super expensive.

Good points on the opportunities/challenges today's SEC ruling on general solicitation brings to startup funding. At Bison.co, we believe the important changes from these new rules will have less to do with accredited investors and more to do with increasing data openness in the private equity industry. Check out our latest blog post for details on how it will play out... (http://blog.bison.co/2013/07/10/hello-private-equity-marketi...)