Learning About Contracts

Whew! Life in the Studio has been busy! Tom just got back from a little ski vacation in Alta, WY and a subsequent client meeting in NYC where they had a lot of great discussion around social media. Kendra has been out landing whale clients and dealing with sick kids, I'm not sure when she sleeps - she's amazing! Stephanie is the glue holding us all together as always, now I just have to trick her into coming back to the gym with me.

So, enough with the firm update. My focus for 2009 is going to be learning how to do deals and understanding the subtle ins and outs that separate good deals from great deals. Well, that's great, but how do you get started? One of the first things I learned was to use a methodology. Use the same approach to analyzing deals each time, so that you aren't reinventing the wheel over and over again. From our website, you can download our approach to contract analysis, here.

Second, and equally important is using a visual representation of complex deals that highlight important deal points. This makes it so much easier to come back to a deal, months later, and pick out the key pieces of information that you might need to know (e.g., payment, indemnification, termination, etc.). We use software called Mindmap Pro. It's very easy to use and allows for a wide range of customizable options. You can check out a free trial, here.