Top all-time · #13361
Joe Wallin
Personal blog · thestartuplawblog.comstartupsbusiness
Joe Wallin writes The Startup Law Blog, a personal blog at thestartuplawblog.com about startups and business. Since 2018, 6 different Hacker News readers have linked it 6 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-21, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (5) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this startup law blog to explain equity compensation, including incentive stock options, post-termination exercise windows and their tax treatment, and to a lesser extent trademark first-to-file rules.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 5 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
From Joe Wallin (NYU LL.M., 25+ years): practical legal guidance on QSBS, equity compensation, startup formation, and Washington State taxes.
Most-linked posts?
- /incentive-stock-options-post-termination-service-exercise-periods/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-02-11
What Hacker News says?
This is an argument similar to "China is odd for using the metric system; to prove it here is the US using Imperial" > Let’s start with how the U.S. is different from other countries. In the U.S., just using a brand in commerce will grant you some legal rights over the brand. Many jurisdictions, however, are “first-to-file” countries. That means whoever registers a trademark first – regardless of whether they’re usi…
Comment linking /trademarks-file-outside-u-s/
on “Apple removes game after Chinese company cloned, trademarked, requested takedown”Submitted How to Use and Review Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionYou need to read up on the issue. Links to get you started: - https://www.holloway.com/g/equity-compensation/sections/the-... - https://thestartuplawblog.com/immediately-exercisable-isos-t...
Comment linking /immediately-exercisable-isos-the-problems/
on “Let employees sell their equity”> except in cases where you are let go or decide to leave The IRS is only involved at the time of exercise [1][2]. Companies are the ones making ISOs expire, versus convert to NSOs, three months following termination of employment. [1] https://thestartuplawblog.com/incentive-stock-options-post-t... [2] https://www.cooleygo.com/isos-v-nsos-whats-the-difference/
Comment linking /incentive-stock-options-post-termination-service-exercise-periods/
on “Bolt Financial's loans come due”(Not A Lawyer disclaimer) There's a tax law reason why this isn't a trivial change. Best reference I could find is here: https://thestartuplawblog.com/incentive-stock-options-post-t... In short, to be treated as an Incentive Stock Option - which comes with benefits for you (taxed as capital gains, not as income, if you hold 1 year from exercise and 2 years from grant) and for the company (different accounting treatm…
Comment linking /incentive-stock-options-post-termination-service-exercise-periods/
on “Fuck Your 90 Day Exercise Window (2016)”It's very unusual. Founder compensation is not the place to innovate -- innovate on the product, and pay yourself minimum wage with a W-2. See http://thestartuplawblog.com/startup-compensation-founders-d...
Comment linking /startup-compensation-founders-dont-forget-to-pay-yourselves-and-others/
on “Ask HN: Founder comp in dividends?”
