dups is deminor for startups

Why do we have a special identity for startups?

Over the past 3 decades, we have been involved in hundreds of shareholders conflicts and we have gained significant experience in this field.

The best way to avoid shareholders conflicts is prevention from the start, i.e. when the company is founded and every time the ownership changes (especially at capital increases).

We like working with startups and we have been advising many early stage ventures. We deeply understand the challenges they face and we want to represent the founders because they have less bargaining power.

From our experience, when a startup raises capital, they have to deal with more risks than other companies because there is asymmetry between founders and investors at two levels:

Asymmetry between founders and funders

Asymmetry of knowledge:
by the nature of their jobs, investors have experience in deal making. When they negotiate with founders, they have a clear edge.

Asymmetry of investment:
Investors diversify their risks.
They know that out of 10 startups they invest in, 5 may go bankrupt, 3-4 do just average and 1 becomes a hit. Unfortunately, for the founders of a startup, diversification is not an option. Plus, they have most of the time an emotional bond with their startup, their baby.

The idea for dups arose from this insight and our wish to help startup founders better prepare, negotiate and raise funds from investors, in order to enhance their chances of a successful partnership.