community @ironclad_inc // cohost of @barsidepod // left the practice of law to sell innovation to lawyers
Dec 2, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Recently met up with an equity partner friend who shared some candid comments, over drinks, about succeeding in Biglaw. The convo led to an anonymous interview for Above The Law, which I'm putting the final touches on. In the meantime, here's a preview of some of his insights:
Developing unique expertise can lead to great results. Doesn’t have to be law. Partner became an expert on e-discovery as an associate years ago (before it was hot) which led him to dominate the niche. Originations spiked, and the firm promoted him to partner shortly after. 1/5
Sep 25, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
The hardest part about selling to legal is that most people aren’t used to persuading a skeptical audience that’s professionally trained to poke holes in whatever you say. Some random thoughts from my 5 years selling tech to lawyers as a quota carrying rep. 1/5
Be up front about your weaknesses. Since your counterpart be looking to poke holes, tell them the truth. It earns you credibility. Plus, some argumentative types will debate you on it, saying that your “weakness” is actually a strength. That’s when you gotta just shut up. 2/5
Jan 9, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
If you’re a lawyer who recently encountered a setback you might want to consider a move to tech. We’re more tolerant of failures and you can bounce back pretty fast, in a big way. Some examples:
1/ Reshma Saujani, a former Davis Polk associate, lost her first two political campaigns. In 2012, she founded a non-profit to close the gender gap in tech. It’s called Girls Who Code, and has taught 300k girls through its programming, and reached 500m people worldwide.
Jan 2, 2022 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
An associate who worked at three different firms in the first 5 years out of law school realizes that a traditional law job isn’t for her. So she decides to do something "crazy" and join a local startup. Which eventually leads to her becoming the COO of Airbnb. This is her story:
1/ In 1996, Belinda Johnson was a fifth year at Littler when she realized that a traditional law career wasn’t meant for her. So she took matters into her own hands. One day, she just introduced herself a local entrepreneur who happened to work out at her gym.
Jan 29, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Attention law firms, vendors, and legal depts: You need to read this Gartner article by @bobvdmeulen about emerging trends re legal spend. Here are some key quotes:
2/ “Low legal technology adoption and insufficient knowledge management capabilities left many legal departments unprepared to immediately switch to remote work.”
Jan 27, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
1/ We hosted a relatively successful b2b webinar yesterday with >500 attendees, mostly from our target personas at ICPs, which include enterprises & F500s. Some lessons learned.
2/ Differentiate from podcasts. I don't attend most webinars I register for because I can always download them later and listen at my convenience. So if you want people to show up, you've got to offer something different.
Jan 3, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
1/ When I first made the jump from law to #legaltech, I was told that my legal experience didn't matter. "You have no sales experience, so you'll need to start from the bottom," they said. That pissed me off.
2/ I was a 33 year old graduate of Northwestern Law, with a federal clerkship and Biglaw experience under my belt. And what did this tiny startup want me to do? Make cold calls!? Fine, I thought. I'm gonna become the best damn cold caller in legal tech.
Dec 31, 2020 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
1/ I’m extremely bullish on legal tech startups (ie. tech vendors) that target corporate legal departments (CLDs) as opposed to law firms. Here’s why.
2/ CLDs like to buy subscriptions. Law firms prefer to buy a usage-based pricing. There are some exceptions but this seems to be the general rule. I learned this firsthand when I sold e-discovery tech a few years ago.
