Interview by Kevin Ohashi of Ohashi Media

Dana Robinson is an entrepreneur, investor and a lawyer.  He received his JD from The University of San Diego School of Law School where he graduated cum laude.  Before starting his own businesses, he worked in Nevada focusing on intellectual property and managed some of the most well-known trademarks around such as Mirage and Bellagio.

Today, Dana is a founding partner at Tech Law LLP, an IP law boutique in California.  He also runs FreeLegalAid.com, a service and directory to help people assist themselves in legal matters.  His latest venture is Get In Business! which is a resource center for budding entrepreneurs.

Kevin Ohashi:

You have worked as a lawyer involved with startups for quite some time.  What sort of unique insights do you gain with your background that someone from say a technical or business background misses?

Dana Robinson:

I tend to bring that experience to the table, in a way that doesn’t just help a new business owner accomplish some task, like forming a corporation or drafting a stock offering or filing a trademark.  What my background gives me is the ability to empathize with the people I work with.  I’ve been in their seat.  I try to think of what I didn’t know when I was in that position and to bring some cost/benefit thinking.  A typical IP lawyer will get a client who wants a patent and they will do a very good job filing for a patent.  I’m going to ask if you need a patent.  Don’t spend the money if you don’t need it or if in the end it won’t do you any good.  That’s a fundamentally businessy approach.  Businesspeople tend to think that their lawyers and accountants and consultants think this way, but in reality they don’t.  Service providers tend to think of their tasks individually, not as part of the whole.  As a result, novice business owners overspend on services and don’t end up with what’s the best for their business.

Kevin Ohashi:

Your own startups seem to mirror your personal expertise in the legal field.  Has the internet changed the way legal services are provided in a major way?

Dana Robinson:

Absolutely.  The Internet has meant two things for me: First, it enabled me to focus on a practice that is largely based on Internet businesses; second it has allowed me to create a law practice that is itself an Internet business.  In 1999, for example, email became a fully accepted form of client communication and by 2003, you could file trademarks entirely online.  In many states you can incorporate online.  I can operate a virtual practice; work paperlessly from virtually anywhere and employ the same technologies that have spawned so many of the businesses that I do work for.  People have found me online or by referral.  I don’t advertise, not listed in the yellow pages, etc.  I have clients in Canada, Portugal, Asia, and all over the US, all entirely web-based relationships.  Clearly technology has revolutionized legal services.

On the type of practice, technology has created an entirely new set of practices, not just one but many.  I’m lucky to practice law in new technologies that didn’t even exist when I was in high school.  I love working with technology based clients.  I am an old GenX’r, at 40 I am still part of Generation X that was exposed to early technology in the home and at school.  I learned “Basic” programming when I was 12 and my brother and I used to write little programs on a Texas Instruments computer and record them to cassette tape (the only cheap way to save data at the time).  In law school, I worked in the computer lab, where I taught myself HTML and Javascript, and created public web pages on my school UNIX account, and that’s where I also launched Freelegalaid.com.  I try to do what I am good at, what I understand.  I understand technology and that makes me a good lawyer for that space, and it also means that I’m more comfortable investing in that space.

Kevin Ohashi:

You’ve helped hundreds of companies with IP issues.  Is there a standard checklist for startups that they should all do with regards to IP?

Dana Robinson:

Funny you ask.  I was reading a blog by an SEO guy with the top 10 things to do to improve your blog’s visibility.  It was a good read, but what it also reminded me is that I should create a top 10 list for IP issues for startups.  That said, my next blog entry on Getinbusiness might be that list!

Whenever I sit down with a client or a company that I’m invested in, I do go through a checklist and talk through issues of trademark, copyright, patents and trade secrets, and I try to distill a short list of things that are pertinent to that company.

Kevin Ohashi:

Get In Business! is your latest venture.  What is your goal for the website since it seems to be a business and a personal venture?

Dana Robinson:

I’m basically in the IP business, with GetinBusiness, I’m creating content. It is essentially a publishing business, which has value that I can monetize in many ways. But at the same time, I feel that I can give something helpful to entrepreneurs. With GetinBusiness, I have the ability to give away free tools, advice, forms and help people, but as I create content, I can monetize that through advertising, etc.  I’m also taking many of my most common “how tos” and making them into inexpensive e-books, like the New Business Quick Start Guide, available on Kindle and as an iPhone app.  I’m reworking a booklet on trademark issues for small businesses, one on copyright issues and a guide to incorporating in all 50 states.  These sell for as little as 99 cents.  I’m hoping to do good, give a lot away, but still make a profit in the end.

Kevin Ohashi:

You’re also an investor, could you tell us about some of your investments and how they are going to change the world?

Dana Robinson:

My investments have been across a broad range of industries.  One thing that I try to do with my investments is think about what we are doing and how we are doing it.  Are we doing something positive?  Even owning rental properties, I’ve tried to be the “good” landlord, taking several buildings out of virtual slum status.  Changing the world, while noble sounding, is really a one-at-a-time thing about being something good.  With Christianaudio.com, our goal was not simply to sell religious titles but to publish “thoughtful” works.  With Esquivel Shoes, we make hand-crafted American shoes, and we have spent a decade building a reputation as good people, who are doing something right.  With AsiaDirect, an importer, the president deals only with factories in China that operate fairly and ethically.  With GetinBusiness, I truly hope to build a catalog of useful tools, easy to understand “how tos” and solid podcasts that can convey not only my knowledge but my own approach to life and business: you change the world by changing yourself; you treat others like you want to be treated.

Kevin Ohashi:

A lot of people say it’s easier to simply do something and ask for forgiveness later.  Applied to startups this is often the case as they push technological as well as legal limits.  As a lawyer, entrepreneur and investor what do you think of that type of thinking?

Dana Robinson:

As a businessman, I agree that many things can be done quickly and efficiently without wasting time and money spinning the wheels on legal analysis.  From a legal standpoint, lawyers are not supposed to tell you to do something first and ask for forgiveness later.  But, the reality of business is that everything is a “risk/benefit” analysis.  If you do something first, you just have to know about the risk associated with the apology later.  For example, if you choose a trademark and get a demand letter, you can estimate the risk pretty easily: change your name, apologize and most of the time its over (there are rarely damages in trademark cases).  But, if you use a copyrighted photo or content, you have to face an “apology” that may include money.  Copyright infringement carries statutory damages up to $150,000.  Thus, I generally advise clients to get good advice on copyright issues, even if they want to skimp on trademark advice.  If you have some great new technology and you think it is patentable or copyrightable, you can probably launch it, and wait to prove your business case before filing anything and spending money on lawyers.  You have 1 year to get a patent, and 5 years to file your copyright.  The best entrepreneurs that I know tend to ask me to avoid wasting time on over analysis; right off the top they want to know about risk.  They ask enough questions to make their risk/benefit assessment and then come back to me if they feel that the risk is imbalanced against the benefit.  That’s efficient, and it enables the entrepreneur to make a decision about doing something first and asking for forgiveness later more effectively.