Scaling a business is hard enough. Scaling it with the wrong partners, a messy cap table, and handshake governance can quietly set you up for a blowup later. We talk with Albert Lin, Chief Investment Officer at Northview Law and founder of dCarbon VC, about what he learned moving from corporate M&A to private equity and then into the operator seat building a growing firm designed to serve secondary and tertiary markets where quality professional services are in short supply.
Albert shares a clear framework for evaluating opportunities and risk using both legal and investor discipline: how to spot when your team structure no longer matches your stage, why many founders hire the wrong financial leadership too early, and how to think about runway and fundraising timing. From vesting schedules to good leaver and bad leaver clauses, we get specific about the tools that keep incentives aligned as the business evolves.
We also dig into the most expensive early mistakes founders make: skipping a real shareholder agreement, relying on “tribal council” decision making, and ignoring dispute resolution, liquidity terms, and life-event scenarios like death, divorce, or disability. If you are thinking about an eventual exit, Albert lays out three practical levers that drive business valuation: professionalizing operations so the company runs without you, building credible growth wedges with proof points, and starting tax planning years in advance.
Reach Albert here:
https://www.northviewlaw.com/contact
Season 4 Episode 176
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Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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