Steve's story: empathy for emerging businesses

About nine years ago, I had a great idea. The idea was novel, scalable and could really make a positive difference in people’s lives.
I always wanted to be an entrepreneur but at the time had only worked as an attorney, in large or government organizations. Leading and developing something that actually could change the world on my own terms seemed like a dream come true.   I conducted extensive due diligence, secured the intellectual property through a major research university, came up with a company name and tag, wrote an extensive business plan, created product, designed a logo and raised the most basic of friends and family money to finance the beginnings of a company.
For the next 8 years, I learned more about life and business than I ever imagined. I created hundreds of business development relationships. I drafted over seven subsequent business plans, secured and re-secured various IP dozens of times, raised more capital, and rewrote organizational charts. I drafted and redrafted employment agreements, structured partnership agreements, and ultimately negotiated my exit. Like most entrepreneurs, I had days of extreme joy and days of extraordinary sorrow. In summary, I lived and breathed that emerging business.
I believe the saying is true that you cannot understand someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. Accordingly, I founded EmergeCounsel based on the mission of empathy: having the experiences and taking the time to get to know our business clients and their businesses so that we can provide stellar services and legal strategic planning in a cost efficient, effective manner.