John Rockwell

There are two main reasons I’m drawn to start-ups: the variety of the work on a daily basis and the business nature of such work.

Experience:  I work with early- and late-stage venture capital-backed companies on their corporate matters: entity formation, equity and debt financings and related transactions, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance, among other things. It’s one of the few areas of law where you are advising as much, if not more, on the business side of people’s problems, than on the fundamental legal side.  As much as we get legal questions, the vast majority of the questions our clients bring us are on the business side—operating, scaling, financing, employee management. Working closely with startups empowers us to be true partners and provide support as executive decisions are made.  

Off the clock: I try to weave in travel with work, in that my practice is heavily involved with companies based in Latin America. I’m a huge fan of the English Premier League, and also coach my daughters’ sports teams. 

Reading recommendation: Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham, and If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, which at one point I recommended to my sister, who then decided to write her dissertation on it. 

Movies to watch: I can never seem to turn off Meet Joe Black if it’s on tv at night, and Bull Durham is a classic. 

Memorable travel: I met my then-future wife in Berlin while I was travelling after college. And during that same Summer trip I almost got into a fight with a famous American clothing designer over a taxicab, in Capri (his fault!).

Recent matters: Representing Brazil-based Conta Simples in its Series B financing, Mexico-based TrueHome in its acquisition by Loft, General Catalyst in its investment in Mexico-based Kavvak, Uruguay-based NocNoc in its Series A financing, Argentina-based Wolox in its acquisition by Accenture and California-based Workramp in its Series C financing have been just a few of my client matters in recent years.