With over 35 years of experience as a venture investor, entrepreneur, and operator — and authorship of a six-volume treatise series written for founders, investors, legal professionals, and graduate business and law school students — I bring depth to my expert engagements.
VC Expert Services provides expert witness testimony, litigation consulting, and dispute advisory services for venture capital, private equity, and startup disputes.
I serve all parties in venture capital disputes — founders, investors, boards, and their legal counsel. My opinions are driven by methodology and facts, not by which side of the cap table retained me.
Three Pillars of Expertise
How I Serve You
01
Dispute Advisory & Analysis
Technical analysis of the financial instruments, governance structures, and market practices central to venture capital conflicts.
- Cap table reconstruction and waterfall distribution modeling
- Liquidation preference and anti-dilution provision analysis
- Analysis of governance practice and board conduct norms in contested matters
- Fundraising process evaluation and market comparables
- Information rights and data room protocol review
- 409A valuation-related analysis
02
Expert Witness & Litigation Support
Expert testimony, reports, and rebuttal analysis grounded in established methodology.
- Expert witness testimony at trial, arbitration, and deposition
- Rule 26 expert reports and rebuttal reports
- Methodology structured under Daubert/Frye reliability standards
- Pre-litigation case evaluation and consulting expert engagements
- Custom and practice testimony on VC industry norms
03
Consulting Expert Services
Pre-designation and non-testifying consulting for legal teams evaluating their case posture on expert issues.
- Case evaluation from an expert perspective
- Assistance with expert designation decisions
- Rebuttal analysis of opposing experts’ methodology
- Support to retaining counsel on deposition and cross-examination preparation
- Document review and fact development from an expert analytical perspective
Who I Serve
My expertise serves both sides of the table
Founder and Common Shareholder Matters
I provide expert analysis in disputes involving founder equity, common shareholder rights, governance decisions, and founder-investor disagreements. My analysis applies the same methodology regardless of which party retains me — grounded in governing documents, VC industry custom and practice, and the analytical framework documented in my treatise.
Investor and Governance Matters
I provide expert analysis in disputes involving investor rights, governance decisions, fiduciary questions, and investor-founder disagreements. My analysis applies the same methodology regardless of which party retains me — grounded in governing documents, VC industry custom and practice, and the analytical framework documented in my treatise.
Practice Areas
Twelve Defined Areas of Expertise
Every engagement I undertake falls within one or more of my twelve defined practice areas, each grounded in decades of direct operational experience.
- Valuation Disputes
- Fundraising Process
- Founder Disputes
- Data Room Protocols
- Board Governance & Fiduciary Duty
- Information Rights
- Cap Table & Equity Structure
- IP & Trade Secret Matters
- Liquidation Preferences & Waterfalls
- Down-Rounds & Anti-Dilution
- Solvency & Standard of Care
- Exit & M&A Disputes
My Approach
My Methodology
What distinguishes VC Expert Services from generalist business valuation experts or academics is a practitioner’s methodology refined over 35 years.
- 1
Public Domain Baseline
Before reviewing any disputed materials, I conduct independent public domain research to establish an analytical foundation. This approach is designed to ground my analysis independently of any single party’s characterization of the facts.
- 2
Document-Driven Analysis
My opinions are anchored in governing documents — certificates of incorporation, investor rights agreements, voting agreements, stockholders’ agreements, and board minutes — not in speculation or unsupported assumption.
- 3
Industry Standards Benchmarking
I evaluate conduct against established venture capital customs and practices, drawing on direct experience and the analytical framework documented in my six-volume treatise series.
- 4
Dual-Perspective Credibility
Having operated as both a venture investor and a company-building entrepreneur, I bring experience to both sides’ expectations, obligations, and norms.
The Authoritative Reference
The Architect’s Guide to Venture Capital
A six-volume, 50-chapter treatise series published by Silicon Arbitrage Press, written for founders, investors, legal professionals, and graduate business and law school students. The series provides the analytical framework that underpins my expert work, covering deal structure, governance, conflict patterns, the modern VC frontier, execution and best practices, and dispute resolution.
In engagements, it provides transparent sourcing for the standards and customs referenced in my expert opinions.
