All boilerplate provisions need to be treated with the respect they deserve; indeed, a choice-of-law clause may be outcome determinative regarding the availability or lack of availability of a specific cause of action. A choice-of-law clause is an important part of the entire written agreement that was designed to provide certainty as to the agreed deal between the parties.
Read More
Understanding how contracts (and the terms therein) in the age of IoT (the Internet of Things), especially as it relates to consumer products, are changing, is crucial for an company who utilizes the internet to sell, market and provide it's products.
Read More
Sometimes, labels in contracting can lead you to unintended consequences. This article illustrates a few ways in which different legislative venues look at naming conventions when drafting agreements.
Read More
Here is a brief synopsis of an article written about Raymond Loewy, the father of industrial design, on his philosophy about what it takes to sell something new: He believed that consumers are torn between two opposing forces: neophilia, a curiosity about new things; and neophobia, a fear of anything too new.
Read More
At a consumer products company we’re familiar with, no one on the senior team would ever refer to the company’s products as “commodities.” Managers there know what the competition has to offer, and they know their goods are different. They can name the distinctive features and explain their value—and they can tell you how much they’ve spent on innovation to keep that edge.
Read More
On a recent business trip to London, I surprised the conference organizers by turning down the opportunity to stay at the posh hotel hosting the conference in favor of a rather modest Airbnb flat. The hotel was clearly much more luxurious. The flat would require me to take the tube or an Uber to the event. Who in their right mind would make such a choice?
Read MoreIt was reported yesterday that Westfield Corporation, which operates 32 large U.S. malls is looking to startups to spur innovation. They are concerned with the perception that online retailers are capturing the eyes (and pocketbooks) of consumers, thereby eroding their market dominance and ultimately profits.
Read MoreAccording to a recent WSJ article, Twitter has 313 million monthly active users, but its “total addressable audience” is 800 million (and possible much larger if you include who see tweets outside Twitter’s website or apps, or even every news source that simply cites and/or quotes a tweet.)
Read More
One of the best examples of how small differences can lead to exponential results comes from the world of professional golf. In 2015, Phil Mickelson earned $51 million split between prize money on the tour and endorsements.
His per-round stroke average was 70.5.
Read More
The concept of a 'newsletter' pops into the minds of company owners when they have no idea what to do to boost their marketing. They just know they need to do something.Should they entertain speaking engagements, seminars, networking events, newsletters, other?
Read MoreDollar Shave Club introduced a subscription model for selling razors using slapstick humor on YouTube. Now, Dollar Shave Club is being bought by Unilever PLC for $1 billion cash. Among the lessons learned and traditional industry norms broken are:
Read Morehere’s a cultural problem among companies, especially consulting companies: most of us label ourselves based on our practice area. As an example, in the legal profession: "I’m an estate planning attorney. I’m a M&A lawyer."
Read More