Meet Daniel DeWolf

dan-dewolf-headshot.jpg

Contact Dan:
1.212.692.6223
DDeWolf@mintz.com

What really excites me about working with young companies is the energy they bring to the table. Our start-up clients have all the enthusiasm and excitement I had when I co-founded my own early-stage venture capital firm (during Web 1.0) called Dawntreader Ventures. What we can add to a founder’s enthusiasm and passion are the experience and business acumen in this space that come from years of being involved at the crossroads of the Internet, capital formation, and information technology. Experience matters. Oh, and having a law degree certainly helps. Knowing the law and guiding entrepreneurs and growth companies from concept to exit is what we do best. Helping to build new companies in a collaborative fashion in partnership with our clients is what we are all about.   

Professional details:

  • Co-chair, Mintz Levin’s Start-Ups Practice

  • Chair, Mintz Levin’s Technology Practice

  • Co-founder, Dawntreader Ventures, an early-stage VC firm

  • Adjunct Professor, New York University Law School

  • Advisory Council, Public Policy Committee of the Angel Capital Association

Education

  • JD, University of Pennsylvania

  • BA, University of Pennsylvania

Fun facts:
I love playing basketball and tennis, and spending time at my farm in the Hudson Valley with its wonderful organic garden.

If I weren’t a lawyer, I would be …
a high school basketball coach

What I tell my Students at NYU Law: Learning without thinking is useless; and thinking without learning is dangerous.
Common sense is not so common. — Voltaire

Android or iPhone? iPhone 8 and iPhone SE (all the time) and I sometimes also carry a third flip phone just in case …

Companies I’ve helped get off the ground:

  • Go To Meeting

  • SquareSpace

  • Wit Capital

  • Dawntreader Ventures

  • Visible World

  • iParty

  • LivePerson

  • Clearsky Power and Technology Fund

  • SharesPost 100

  • Alpha Venture Partners

  • Weild and Co.

  • Conduce

  • Tutor.com

  • Citizen VC

  • Vida Ventures

  • ClearSky Security Fund

  • BetterPT

  • Gas It Up

  • Kinnos

  • T-Rex

  • Quip

Dan's latest articles on MintzEdge:

Featured
Raise Capital
New Beneficial Owner Threshold Eases VC Fundraising
Raise Capital

By Talia Primor, Rachel Gholston, and Daniel DeWolf

Small venture capital funds and special purpose vehicles, which otherwise qualify as “venture capital funds,” can now raise money from up to 250 beneficial owners and remain within the 3(c)(1) exemption of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Investment Company Act”).

Raise Capital
Raise Capital
SAFEs: The (Not So) Simple Agreement for (Potential) Future Equity
Raise Capital

By Brian Novell and Daniel DeWolf

Historically, most start-up companies were funded either by the offering of equity or by loans in the form of convertible promissory notes. Recently, however, there have been some hybrid instruments created to fund start-ups. Most notably, and quite popular these days, is the use of an instrument called a SAFE. “SAFE” is an acronym for “simple agreement for future equity.”

Raise Capital
Form A Company
Incorporating Your Company - Chat with Dan DeWolf (Video)
Form A Company

Hear Mintz Levin's Daniel DeWolf and David Rose from Gust on the best ways to form your company, including the differences between LLCs and C-Corporations

Form A Company
Raise Capital
Various Ways to Raise Capital
Raise Capital

The world of raising capital has been evolving over the last several years.  Offerings of securities generally used to fall into two main buckets: (i) private placements under the old Rule 506 or (ii) a public offering. With the implementation of various provisions of the JOBS Act now mostly complete, the array of choices has increased exponentially and include crowd funding, crowd sourcing by general solicitation for accredited investors, IPO light under the new Reg A+ rules, and confidentially submitted initial public offerings.

Raise Capital
Raise Capital
Revised Rule 504: Another Tool in the Toolkit to Raise Capital
Raise Capital

By Daniel DeWolf and Brian Novell

If there is one common theme that entrepreneurs tend to have, it is fire – meaning, many entrepreneurs are passionate about an exciting idea that they seek to turn into a business.  However, entrepreneurs often quickly realize that, in order to make their fire glow high and bright for the world to see, they need fuel – meaning, capital.  While bootstrapping is a smart practice that can keep the embers burning for a period of time, even fantastic ideas will likely sooner or later need a major capital injection – thereby adding fuel to the fire – to take the venture to the next level.  This is where the newly revised Rule 504 of Regulation D may be a good option for early stage companies.  For qualifying companies, Rule 504 provides an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, thereby facilitating the ability of startups to raise capital.  Often well-suited for friends and family or seed rounds of funding, Rule 504 provides flexibility to smaller companies seeking assistance with capital formation.

Raise Capital
NYC Extends Tax Credit Available to Biotech Companies

By Daniel DeWolf and Sohail Itani

In late 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law a three-year extension of NYC’s biotechnology tax credit. Generally, the biotech tax credit allows emerging biotech companies to claim an annual refundable credit of up to $250,000 for certain costs and expenses. Extension of the credit underscores the city’s continued policy of incentivizing the start-up and early-stage growth of biotech companies.