The Microsoft-Teams Breakup 💔

Hey there,

Welcome back to our monthly newsletter focused on helping you grow your business faster and smarter. 🚀

As always, we’re:  

1. 🙋‍♀️ Answering the one legal question we’ve been asked most this past month by founders and startups. 

2. 📰 Summarizing a noteworthy piece of news (and why it’s relevant to you). 

3. 🚀 Giving you one legal reminder to check off your list. 

4. 🎉 Updating you on several events this month that could bring value to you and your business.

5. 💸 Sharing a few funding opportunities we love (new this month!).

Got a question you’d like us to answer next month? Just reply to this email and let us know.

1. Our Most Asked Question during June:
When you realize your co-founder relationship has run its course, what do you do? 🥹

First of all; our condolences. It’s never a fun thing to split up with your cofounder, even if it is the right step. 💔

Now as you go about ending your relationship, here are a few key questions to help you begin the separation process: 
 
1. Did you have any legal agreements in place with each other? 
2. Does the person have any shares in the company? 
3. Were these shares subject to any vesting provisions? 
4. Are they a director? 
5. Was the person employed by the company?  
6. Are they agreeing to leave the company or is there a dispute? 

If you have a shareholders’ agreement together, awesome! This is about to make your life so much easier.  🙌

Take a look at the shareholders’ (or founders’) agreement along with the Company’s articles of association and see what the agreed-upon terms and conditions around your cofounder split.  

You’ll also want to check if there are any restrictions on the founder’s shares (for example; are they subject to any vesting schedule?). If there are any restrictions, you’ll want to see what the terms are around the company taking back those shares. 📄

If the founder was a director and/or employee, you’ll need to take extra care and ensure that they resign as a director and their employment is terminated following the right procedure as set out in law (this changes from country to country).

From here, next steps will depend on what sort of agreements you have or haven’t set up. And of course, feel free to give us call if you have questions about your situation.  

2. Noteworthy News:
The Microsoft-Teams Breakup 💔

We know regulatory compliance and antitrust don’t sound too sexy, but having to pay 16 billion in fines? Yeah, that’s a real bummer. Makes it feel like compliance and antitrust might be kind of cool to pay attention to. 🙃

The EU has provided a preliminary view that Microsoft has breached EU competition rules by illegally bundling its Teams app with its Office 365 package. 🚫

They say this gives Teams an unfair advantage over Microsoft’s rival messaging and videoconferencing apps, Slack and Zoom. And while Microsoft has made some changes to unbundle Teams, the EU says the changes have been a little too half-hearted.  

Curious who suggested the EU investigate? None other than one of Microsoft's biggest workplace messaging competition: Slack (bold move, Slack, bold move). 😏

What happens if Microsoft is found to have indeed violated antitrust rules? They’ll be fined up to 10% of their global annual revenue of over 160 billion pounds. Yikes. 💰

Microsoft’s response? They’ve stated they’ll work to find a solution. We’re hoping it’s a pretty darn good solution, for their sakes.  

3. Your July Legal Reminder:
Is your business certified in Cyber Essentials? 👾

Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed program designed to help organisations protect themselves against common online threats. 🤺

By implementing the controls specified in Cyber Essentials, you can significantly reduce the risk of common cyber threats such as phishing, malware, ransomware and hacking attempts. This foundational level of security helps safeguard your organisation’s data and IT systems. 

There are two certification levels: Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus.  

🥈Cyber Essentials: This basic level involves a self-assessment questionnaire and an external vulnerability scan. It demonstrates that your organisation has implemented essential cybersecurity measures. 

🥇Cyber Essentials Plus: This level includes an independent assessment and internal vulnerability testing to verify that the security measures are working effectively. 

A bonus to becoming certified in Cyber Essentials is that some insurance companies recognise the Cyber Essentials certification and may offer reduced premiums on cyber insurance policies if you're certified. 💻

4. Upcoming Entrepreneurial Events 🤓 

🚀July 2^nd: AI Summer Beach Party ️ (AI startup pitch competition + networking) 
🚀 July 3^rd: She Bytes Back (meetup for women in tech) 
🚀 July 10^th: SuLe Event SuLe x Fusion42 (avoiding company legal pitfalls)
🚀 July 11^th: Empowering Your Next Startup with Web3 and AI Technology (panel on blockchain, Web3 and AI) 
🚀July 12^th: FFR x BAE HQ Meetup (meetup for those part of Female Founders Rise or BAE HQ) 
🚀July 27^th: Speaker Series: Taos, Founder of Focal VC (Focal VC on his founder / investor journey when it comes to the biggest wins and challenges) 
🚀 August 8^th: The Big Startup 5k (5k fun-run for those in the startup space) 

5. Funding Opportunities 💸 

💰 EIC Accelerator: For development and scaling of high-risk innovations by start-ups and SMEs, providing up to £2.5 million in grants, £15 million in equity investments, coaching and networking

💰 IFundWomen: Crowdfunding and grants for women-owned businesses

Have a great month! See you in August. 

– The SuLe Team 

P.S. If you have questions about whether something in this email applies to your business, we’re just a free 15 min consultation away. ;)