RVL® Presents at Yale University’s Tsai CITY
Companies ranging from Patagonia to Warby Parker to Hootsuite have successfully scaled while adopting triple-bottom-line business practices. Essentially, these companies have proven that you can be profitable and still be good corporate citizens. Examples of ways that companies can implement corporate social responsibility into operations is through (legal) benefit corporation structures and (business) B Corp certifications. Often, these business and legal modes are conflated and confused. Rockridge maintains its commitment to helping companies operate for the greater good by demystifying these structures through presentations to chambers, universities, and bar associations. Through partnerships with organizations like Yale University’s Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking, Rockridge’s mission-focused expertise extends to a national audience.
Most recently, in collaboration with Tsai CITY, Rockridge Venture Law® founder Kevin Christopher presented on the Legal Basics for Scaling Social Enterprise on September 9th, 2020. Mr. Christopher’s workshop is part of Tsai CITY’s Innovator’s Toolkit, a series of free workshops focused on key skills for innovation.
Topics covered in the presentation include:
- The development of the legal benefit corporation entity and B Corp certification standard in response to shareholder primacy, including what they do and don’t accomplish
- How benefit corporations and B Corps are related and how they differ
- Increasing importance of trustmarks in e-commerce, particularly in light of COVID.
- IP for Entrepreneurs: An overview of intellectual property and what to prioritize in early stage development.
- Founder tips: An overview of common mistakes by entrepreneurs and how to avoid/overcome them.
A recording of the presentation can be accessed on Rockridge’s YouTube page here.
About Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY)
At the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY), our mission is to inspire students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to seek innovative ways to solve real-world problems. Launched in 2017, Tsai CITY serves students from across Yale’s campus through programs, funding, and mentoring. We’re building a new kind of innovation center, one rooted in inclusivity: here, students from all backgrounds tackle issues like climate change and civic engagement, develop creative projects from documentary films to digital platforms, and launch high-growth ventures and movements.
About Rockridge Venture Law®
RVL® was launched in 2017 to become the preeminent intellectual property and technology firm across the Appalachian Innovation Corridor. We now have offices in Chattanooga, Durham, Jackson and Nashville, and represent clients and interests globally. Our services include all aspects of intellectual property, litigation, M&A, privacy, technology transactions, and ventures.
In 2018 and 2019, we were recognized as B Corp Best for the World for our commitment to triple bottom line business practices. Our pioneering environmental and social impact programs attract top-notch legal talent and assure our clients of missional alignment with their corporate values.
Rockridge uniquely addresses two modern profit drivers: innovation (uptake and development), and corporate social responsibility. We’re Building Today’s Company for Tomorrow’s Economy® by leading clients through the dizzying array of information controls, by helping them to develop and monetize proprietary assets, and by enabling their impactful products, programs, and principles.
