Seed Stage Investing & Startups

Numerous media outlets report that Matthew R. VanderGoot has joined Lowenstein as partner in the firm’s Tech Group, based in its Washington, D.C office, including Law360 (April 4, April 8), Bloomberg Law,  and Reuters' The Daily Docket.  Zarema A. Jaramillo, Managing Partner of the D.C. office, notes that the firm is expanding its presence in the tech and VC markets inside the Beltway: “[The] tech market in D.C. is robust and will continue to be," she says. VanderGoot adds that “the opportunity to help build out Lowenstein Sandler's D.C. tech practice served as a main attraction for … joining the firm.” 

Dotan Barnea, Co-Chair of Lowenstein’s Israel Practice, is a guest speaker on The Decision-Making Podcast on which he discusses, in Hebrew, a variety of legal issues in the U.S. relevant to Israeli startups, including SAFE funding from a legal perspective, the common mistakes and what founders should know before giving stock options, the differences between LLCs and INCs, and other types of companies in the U.S., and more.

Ed Zimmerman spoke to Forbes about the increasing trend toward buying secondary interests in venture funds. “‘Investors now raising funds more frequently, as fast as annually, might be multimillionaires on paper, but have not yet received any profits themselves,’ notes Zimmerman, Chair of the Tech Group at Lowenstein Sandler and an investor in underrepresented fund managers through First Close Partners. ‘There’s no better time to ask your LPs to re-up than once you’ve handed them a check.’” Zimmerman has been involved in thousands of venture fund financings of emerging companies during his thirty years at Lowenstein Sandler, and has invested in more than 150 startups. In addition to his roles at Lowenstein and First Close Partners, Zimmerman has been an Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School for more than 15 years.

The Global Legal Chronicle reports on Lowenstein’s representation of Aetion, the leading regulatory-grade real-world evidence (RWE) technology provider, in its acquisition of Replica Analytics, a pioneer in using artificial intelligence (AI) for synthetic health data generation. The Lowenstein deal team included Anthony O. Pergola, Mark P. Kesslen, Sarah Gore, and Adam Dickson.

Ed Zimmerman, Chair and co-founder of The Tech Group, Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School, and a Founding Partner of First Close Partners LLC, comments in Reuters on the trend toward funds like Tiger Global leading pre-IPO “cap table cleanup” rounds in which investors infuse capital solely or largely for secondary (to purchase from existing shareholders). Zimmerman says, “A flood of funds at a time when startups stay private for much longer has led to more buy-back deals on the private market.” For instance, Tiger Global led Gupshup’s $240 million raise to buy back shares in advance of a potential 2022 IPO.

In an interview with Authority Magazine, Meredith Beuchaw and Chandra Shih talk about their work in the technology sector, what has influenced them, and why it is important to increase the number of women founders in this field. Beuchaw says, “We’re missing half the great ideas if women are not founding companies and getting funded. We need women because we are missing out on innovation if we do not have women-founded companies.” Shih adds: “Getting more women funded and seeing more women succeed will create a domino effect — it’s the whole idea that representation matters.”

Both Shih and Beuchaw are members of Lowenstein Sandler’s Tech Group, known for representing the underrepresented. Shih, who works with growth stage and early stage startups as well as venture firms and other angel and strategic investors, talks about having been recruited and mentored by her former law school professor and managing partner of the firm’s Palo Alto office, Kathi Rawnsley: “In addition to enjoying the work we do and the people I get to work with, it has been so fantastic to start and grow my career at a place where I could see women had a seat at the table at the highest levels of the firm."

When asked to name her influences, Beuchaw, who leads M&A transactions and has counseled clients both on the buy and sell side through hundreds of deals for over 15 years, cites Michelle Obama’s quote, “When they go low, we go high.” “It is about not letting others’ poor behavior be an excuse for our own,” she says. “This is especially important as we see more women on boards and in decision-making positions. Sadly, most of us have been at the received end of bad behavior along the way, but it is important not to let that be the standard for our behavior now and realize we can bring our moral high ground with us."

Shih references Stacey Abrams’ book, Lead from the Outside, as a helpful guide that "focuses on the challenges that women, people of color and those in the LGBTQ community might have in starting their career, as they are told, ‘to advance you must be a leader,’ but may not know where to begin because the system they’re trying to advance in was not built for them.”

Ed Zimmerman, Chair and co-founder of The Tech Group, Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School, and a Founding Partner of First Close Partners LLC, speaks about The Diversity Dividend (#ElDividendodelaDiversidad) as part of a panel, “The Return on Investing in Diverse Fund Managers,” presented by Promoting Venture Capital in Peru (PECAP). The panel, including Susana Garcia-Robles of Capria/LAVCA, Anita Fiori of IDB Lab, Jose Fernandez of StepStone Group, and moderator Luis Narro of PECAP, addresses why it is important and lucrative to invest in underrepresented venture capital fund managers. “Diversity is not only an imperative from a human rights, civil rights, and justice perspective, … it is a financial imperative,” Zimmerman says. “There are unbelievable missed economic opportunities as a result of the myopia that comes from having only people who look the same, went to the same schools, and live in the same communities.” He encourages LPs to speak up by asking GPs to diversify their reference list in order to expose the flaws in their networks. Zimmerman notes that a lack of diversity in the VC world results in “massive costs and causes exclusion, discomfort, and inequity in the workplace.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on First Close Partners (tweet below from reporter Yuliya Chernova):

"Ed Zimmerman, chair of the tech practice at the law firm Lowenstein Sandler, says he texted Theresia Gouw, founding partner at Acrew Capital, in November about the idea of teaming up to invest in underrepresented fund managers.

The newly formed firm, First Close Partners, has already backed about two dozen venture funds and expects to invest in more than 60 by the end of the year, Mr. Zimmerman said. These include Avid Ventures, Base Ventures, Cleo Capital, Marcy Venture Partners and Slauson & Co., among many others. The majority of fund managers that First Close has committed to are Black and a majority are women, Mr. Zimmerman said. Some contacted First Close cold, with no prior introductions.

Founding partners in First Close also include Regina Benjamin, a former U.S. Surgeon General, as well as Josh Kopelman, co-founder of First Round Capital, and Betsy Zimmerman, partner at GrapeArbor Ventures and Mr. Zimmerman’s wife.

“We are trying to have an impact that exceeds our dollars, and also to make money with the underrepresented managers that we are backing,” Mr. Zimmerman said. “We’ve seen instances of our money being dramatically multiplied by other [limited partners] coming in, either where we introduced them or served as a reference,” he added.

He declined to state how much capital First Close Partners has in total, but said that his family is investing $1 million into it.

Well-connected people in the venture industry can act on diversifying who gets to play in the market. While there’s an aspect of social good in the effort, Mr. Zimmerman says that it’s also about financial benefit: “When a fund has been successful, it’s hard to get into fund three or fund four. Being an early backer enables you to follow on.”

Lowenstein's representation of Avid Ventures in the launch of its $68 million-plus debut venture capital fund founded by Addie Lerner, decade-long investor at General Catalyst, General Atlantic, and Goldman Sachs, is noted in the Global Legal Chronicle. The Lowenstein deal team included Ed Zimmerman, Marie T. DeFalco, Max Karpel, Robert J. Menendez, Joseph F. Hendricks, and Bettina C. Elstroth. View Lowenstein's news announcement about this transaction.

Ed Zimmerman, Chair and co-founder of The Tech Group and Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School, teamed up with Marie T. DeFalco (Vice Chair of Lowenstein’s Investment Management Group) to represent Avid Ventures in its $68 million-plus debut. Zimmerman tells Business Wire that managing partner Addie Lerner is “a brilliant, hard-charging, and charismatic force within the venture community. She will win deals by force of intellect, personality, and the reputation for excellence and integrity that she has already developed here in the States, in the UK, and in Israel. Having been opposite Addie in my role as counsel to startups, I’ve been impressed to see, more than once, founders rapidly transition from meeting Addie to making room for her in oversubscribed venture rounds.”

In Pitchbook, Zimmerman says: "LPs back the person in a solo GP fund. … I'm excited to see how people react … [to Avid], and whether others say this strategy is different and I'd like to copy it, or at least pivot into it a little bit more.”

Zimmerman tells TechCrunch that Lerner has a reputation for being “extraordinarily thoughtful about deals” and that one entrepreneur called her “one of the smartest people she has met in a decade-plus in venture.” He adds: “I’ve seen it myself in deals and then I’ve seen founders turn down very well branded funds to work with Addie. … Addie will find and win and be invited into great deals because she makes an indelible impression on the people who’ve worked with her and the data is remarkably consistent.”

On GGV Capital’s Unscripted, Ed Zimmerman, Chair and co-founder of The Tech Group and Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School, talks to GGV’s Jeff Richards about the importance of QSBS for founders, diversity on your startup’s board, the leverage shift in term sheet negotiations, and the impact of SPACs v. IPOs for VC-backed growth companies.

Ed Zimmerman, Chair and co-founder of The Tech Group and Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School, is interviewed by CEO/Founder Mazy Dar on the podcast Openfin MVP. Entitled “Our Whole Selves at Work with Ed Zimmerman,” Zimmerman discusses his career as a lawyer, investor, and co-founder of VentureCrush, as well as his social/political advocacy efforts. Topics include Zimmerman and Dar having had lunch with Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris years ago (before the duo hosted her for a fundraiser for her successful 2016 Senate bid), as well as discussing common legal mistakes founders make and the more than 100 angel investments Zimmerman has made. The conversation also focuses on efforts to improve #Diversity in tech and venture, with reference to company culture and initiatives in which Zimmerman has personally been involved, including his Wall Street Journal Accelerators columns in 2013 (asserting that #VentureCapital was too white, too male, and too homogenous) and 2014 (Zimmerman published one of the earliest pledges against #GenderBias in Tech, a pledge he still follows).

Ed Zimmerman comments to Nasdaq in an article on the booming stock market and VC-backed growth companies going public via IPO and SPAC. Ed, who chairs The Tech Group at Lowenstein Sandler and, for the last 16 years, has been an Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School notes: “One of the things we’re seeing is a lot of performance – companies are actually performing. … They weren’t necessarily performing in the 90’s and during the dot com crisis.”

On the popularity of SPACs as a means of going public, Zimmerman tells Nasdaq, “When you have people who have made lots of money who are doing [SPACs], that enhances the credibility. They’re not in a cordoned off section of the market.” Zimmerman also remarks that more mature companies are turning to SPACs rather than IPOs: “These are companies that could IPO and are choosing a different path – that’s a meaningful difference as compared to SPACs we saw five to six years ago.” 

In Bankrate, Ed Zimmerman and Meredith Beuchaw of Lowenstein Sandler’s Tech Group discuss 2020’s booming tech IPO market and SPAC trend. Contrasting the current IPO market with the over-hyped bubble, Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School and Lowenstein Sandler’s Tech Group Chair Zimmerman says: “The companies that we’re seeing going public in the tech world today are performing,” adding that SPACs may be more risky. “SPACs – what happens if they clock out before they can roll out a company? They may close deals, but they may catch falling knives to complete their mandate.”

Both lawyers anticipate an impact from the upcoming election. Zimmerman advises growth equity investors, VCs and management teams that are poised to IPO “to think carefully about the timeframe for their investments and how they might deal with fallout from November.” Beuchaw observes: “Companies are prepping for potential disruptions, even if they don’t come to pass….If capital dries up, that could lead companies to take an alternative path to get into the public markets…– IPOs, SPACs.” She says, “They’re dual-tracking an entry into public markets, perhaps through a merger or acquisition.”

Ed Zimmerman, Chair and co-founder of The Tech Group, and Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School, is quoted in The Real Deal, discussing the lawsuit regarding the co-founding of Compass, a real estate tech startup that has raised more than $1.5 billion from investors, including Softbank. The lawsuit pertains to whether plaintiff Avi Dorfman (who, according to the court, was a co-founder of Compass), is entitled to shares of stock in Compass (reportedly recently “valued at $6.4 billion”) or solely cash damages. The case, which has been compared to the “Facebook/ Winkelvoss lawsuit,” is presently pending in New York. Zimmerman’s view: “The brokerage likely wants to avoid a fiduciary relationship with Dorfman. With shares, Dorfman would be empowered to request financial information, and it’s possible his vote would also be needed to approve a company sale. If the court awards him cash, their relationship is contractual and short-lived. They rip the Band-Aid off.”

Crunchbase News, Precision Oncology News, Pulse 2.0, and the Global Legal Chronicle report on the $118 million Series B funding for Lowenstein client MURAL, the leading digital workspace for visual thinking and remote collaboration. The Lowenstein deal team included Ed Zimmerman, Alex D. Leibowitz, Serena Ward, Brian A. Silikovitz, Darren Goodman, Mark P. Kesslen, and Carly S. Penner. View Lowenstein's news announcement about this transaction.

Lowenstein represented both Serial Productions and “This American Life” in a pair of simultaneous deals with The New York Times Company (which acquired Serial and struck a strategic alliance with “This American Life”) as noted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, citybizlist, Variety, finanzen.net, and Global Legal Chronicle among others. Lowenstein’s deal team included Ed Zimmerman, Anthony W. Raymundo, and Matt Savare. View Lowenstein's news announcement about these transactions.

In Business Insider, Kathleen A. McGee discusses why some companies backed by venture capital or public-equity investors received small-business loans under the PPP. She explains that the rules never explicitly prohibited venture-backed startups from taking part in the program and that startups do not necessarily have access to all of their backers’ capital. “There is a misconception amongst the public that if you have a VC that you are automatically rolling in money,” she says, “And if you talk to any startup, they will tell you that is absolutely not true.”

Lowenstein's representation of PeakSpan Capital in an investment transaction in which PeakSpan, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, and others invested more than $42 million in Ecwid is noted in the Global Legal Chronicle. The Lowenstein team was led by Anthony O. Pergola and Juan B. Soto and included Ifat Lipman, Joon Hwan Kim, and Serena Ward, with support from Darren Goodman, Eric Jesse, Leah Satlin, Sophia Mokotoff, and the firm’s Global Trade & National Security team (led by Doreen M. Edelman), among others. View Lowenstein's news announcement about this transaction.

Aircall's $65 million Series C funding round, the result of an international team from Osborne Clark (including Lowenstein Sandler) advising DTCP's Venture and Growth Fund II, is noted in TechCrunch, Inside Intercom, Business VoIP, Venture Capital Journal, SiliconANGLE, Silicon Republic, and VentureBeat. (The Lowenstein team was led by Anthony O. Pergola and Alex D. Leibowitz, along with Matthew W. Stichinsky and Jenna-Marie Tracy, and the firm’s Global Trade & National Security team (led by Doreen M. Edelman), among others.) View Lowenstein's news announcement about this transaction.

Lowenstein's representation of Aspiration Partners, Inc. in its $135 million Series C financing round is noted in the Global Legal Chronicle. The Lowenstein team was led by Anthony O. Pergola and Chandra K. Shih and included Juan B. Soto and Christopher T. Pham. View Lowenstein's news announcement about this transaction.

Fortune reports that Lowenstein client Aspiration Partners, a fast-growing financial firm with a conscience, has secured $135 million Series C financing, bringing total funding raised to date to more than $200 million. The Lowenstein team was led by Anthony O. Pergola and Chandra K. Shih and included Juan B. Soto and Christopher T. Pham.

Ed Zimmerman, partner and Chair of The Tech Group, is quoted in Business Insider discussing the SBA’s issuance of new rules and guidance that may retroactively disqualify many venture-backed startups from receiving small business loans as part of the federal government’s coronavirus relief effort. Zimmerman notes that some companies are already paying back funds they received in response to the new rules after being encouraged to apply for the program by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. He states that the SBA and Treasury Department have “really muddied the water” with the latest guidelines. (subscription required to access article)

In Built In, Ed Zimmerman, Kathleen A. McGee, and Kimberly E. Lomot discuss the confusion regarding startups' eligibility under PPP for SBA loans, including how venture capital-backed growth companies should consider certifying “need” under the CARES Act. “The reporting in the press was, ‘Startups are totally ineligible or almost totally ineligible,’” says Zimmerman. “But that’s not what the law says. That’s analysis under Section 103, and the proper way to do the analysis is under 301.” He goes on to clarify under what conditions “negative control” by minority owners may constitute affiliation so as to bar PPP loan eligibility, and how to avoid this through irrevocable waivers or amended charters.

Both Zimmerman and McGee emphasize the importance of documentation. McGee, former Bureau Chief at the New York State Attorney General’s Office, explains the potential risk of future prosecution for companies applying for PPP without having properly assessed the “necessity” certification: “If it is demonstrable on the budget in the Excel spreadsheet you’re keeping that things are going to get much tighter because of COVID-19, then I think you’re justified. … But you have to have that good faith justification. If you have a year of bank, it’s probably going to be a flag raised for regulators.”

Lomot, who has years of experience counseling both borrowers and lenders on SBA loans, also urges caution in taking the certifications seriously: “eagerness to claim available funds…could get startups in trouble if they’re not applying in good faith.”

Ed Zimmerman and Kathleen A. McGee of Lowenstein’s Tech Group are quoted in The New York Times and Reuters on the risks for venture-backed startups seeking government stimulus aid. McGee warns companies with large cash reserves that applying for SBA loans now could “probably … be a flag raised for regulators who are combing through these applications at another time.”  Zimmerman also advises caution: “One thing that I have said to one or two clients is you might not like me very much today or in three months, but I think you’ll like me four years from now when you’re reading about investigations and private lawsuits in the paper and you don’t have this in your background.”

In Inc., Matthew J. Moisan praises the SBA’s clarification of PPP eligibility for VC-backed startups as helping create “a fast, inexpensive process for the companies.” The SBA now defines an affiliate as an investor who can block actions by a startup's board of directors; if the investor relinquishes that right, the business is no longer considered an affiliate and will have a better chance of meeting the headcount requirement and eventual success in its loan application.

Dotan Barnea, Co-chair of the firm’s Israel Practice Group, is quoted in Globes discussing the eligibility of Israeli startups and growth companies for assistance from the United States’ recent $2 trillion-dollar federal program for small and medium-sized businesses. He says, "Israeli startups with significant activity in the United States influenced by the COVID-19 crisis should definitely look at the PPP loans,” although he cautions that applicants must show that the management of the company was done by American citizens or green card holders.

Pensions & Investments features comments by Ed Zimmerman, partner and Chair of The Tech Group, on how the hunt for potential unicorns by venture capital funds has resulted in a “lack of discipline” and an increase in vanity valuations. He says, “These valuations are not supported by the recent transactions of comparable companies or by any other metric. … [M]oney is being spent by some managers based on the need to deploy capital.” (subscription required to access article)

AltAssets and GlobeNewswire report on Lowenstein’s representation of One Inc. in the company’s recapitalization led by Great Hill Partners. The Lowenstein deal team included Kathi A. Rawnsley, Darren Goodman, Brian A. Silikovitz, Megan Monson, Chandra K. Shih, Sarah Gore, Christopher T. Pham, Kristin V. Taylor, and Chad M. P. Weeks.

Ed Zimmerman’s comments are featured in The New York Times, Reuters, Deal Street Asia, and Business News World in an article on market conditions for mergers, acquisitions, and financing for late-stage startups and tech growth companies in the wake of WeWork’s failed IPO. Zimmerman, Chair of Lowenstein’s Tech Group, observes that overfunded growth companies could clog the market for venture-backed M&A: "How do you buy a company with $400 million or $800 million of liquidation preference for under a billion dollars?” (subscription required to access The New York Times article)

Lowenstein's representation of ACV Auctions in its $150 million late-stage venture capital financing is noted in the Global Legal Chronicle. The Lowenstein team included Anthony O. Pergola, Dotan Barnea, Joon Hwan Kim, and Cecily Larison. View Lowenstein's news announcement about this transaction.

Jeffrey Cohen is quoted in The New York Times in an article on the fate of startup companies that do not succeed or fail quickly. Cohen observes that venture capital investors may let a company struggle for years: “They’re willing to let it ride a little longer to see whether it explodes.” (subscription required to access article)

Lowenstein Sandler’s VentureCrushParis is featured in Forbes. The article discusses the vast differences in raising venture capital in Europe versus the United States, noting a valuation gap and quoting Dataiku’s CEO and co-founder Florian Douetteau. VentureCrush brings together founders and venture capitalists that allow startups to build the right network and gain visibility within the industry. Learn more about our upcoming VentureCrush events here.

Lowenstein’s 2019 promotion of seven lawyers to partner and six to counsel (including three women in each category) is noted in Bloomberg Law – Big Law Business. These promotions are also highlighted in LawFuel, The Deal, and the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey’s (CIANJ) Business Beat newsletter, with Lesley P. Adamo, Dmitry Andreev, Marc S. Kurzweil, James B. O’Grady, Eileen Overbaugh, Peter Slocum, and Julie Levinson Werner highlighted as newly elected partners and Brandon Fierro, Joseph G. Jones, Robert Lynn, Brianne Perlman, Nedda N. Salehi, and Leah Satlin listed as promoted to counsel. Gary M. Wingens is quoted regarding the critical role these lawyers will play in the firm’s continued success. Law360 notes our partner elevations in an article highlighting firms' Q1 promotions. (subscription required to access certain content) View Lowenstein’s news announcement about these promotions.

Lowenstein’s representation of Dataiku its $101 million Series C funding round is profiled in the Global Legal Chronicle. The write-up notes the Lowenstein team: Ed Zimmerman, Evan M. Bienstock, Dotan Barnea, and Laura Cicirelli. View Lowenstein’s news announcement about this representation.

Valeska Pederson Hintz is quoted in Forbes in which she discusses Slack, a work-messaging tech unicorn, and the company’s plan to forego a traditional initial public offering (IPO) in favor of a direct listing this year. The article describes this as an unconventional move that could encourage other tech unicorn companies to consider a direct listing in lieu of an IPO, though this isn’t likely to become a mainstream trend. Pederson Hintz suggests that large tech unicorns are uniquely positioned to take advantage of a direct listing for their market debut because they are often well-capitalized and have brand recognition (Wealth Daily also quotes Pederson Hintz on this point). She states that direct listings are faster and cheaper than traditional IPOs. (subscription required to access article)

The Global Legal Chronicle notes Lowenstein Sandler’s representation of Integral Ad Science in an article discussing Vista Equity Partners’ majority-stake acquisition of the company. The article notes that the Lowenstein deal team was led by Raymond P. Thek and included Peter H. Ehrenberg, Ed Zimmerman, Colin J. Kirby, Shimite Obialo, Sarah Gore, Elias Kwon, Alex Galev, Christina Lee, and Kristen Nicol, as well as support from specialists in Tax: Brian A. Silikovitz and Sophia Mokotoff; Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation: James E. Gregory, Darren Goodman, Megan Monson, and Eric Margulies; Intellectual Property Litigation: Mark P. Kesslen and Lisa A. Harvey; Antitrust & Trade Regulation: Zarema A. Jaramillo; and Privacy & Cybersecurity: Mary J. Hildebrand. View Lowenstein’s news announcement about this transaction.

MarTech Series, Markets Insider, 4-traders.com, The PE Hub Network and citybizlist highlight Lowenstein Sandler as legal counsel to global software company Integral Ad Science in its majority-stake acquisition by leading private equity firm Vista Equity Partners.

Bloomberg View cites a Forbes Tech article by Ed Zimmerman, Peter Ehrenberg, and Valeska Pederson Hintz on SEC Rule 701 in its discussion of robot funds and bank regulation.

Ed Zimmerman's third installment of his series on bicoastal venture funding in Forbes features an interview with ActionIQ's founder Tasso Argyros, a successful Silicon Valley startup founder. The article discusses why Argyros relocated to NYC to start a deeply technical enterprise company and whom he tapped for venture funding.

Ed Zimmerman's first installment of his series on bicoastal venture funding in Forbes talks about how startups can find the right investor even if they're 3,000 miles away.

Ed Zimmerman's column in Forbes guides VCs and founders on recent Delaware law developments in how startups should handle board minutes.

Ed Zimmerman's article in Forbes discusses product quality strategies for startups drawing from the success of Chateau Margaux.

Ed Zimmerman's article in Forbes discusses how and when to tell your startup or growth company's investors the deep dark secrets about your company – before the term sheet or before the pitch meeting.

Fortune reports on Lowenstein Sandler Tech Group Chair Ed Zimmerman's #GenderBiasPledge supporting women in startups and tech. Read the original Gender Bias Pledge Ed published on the Accelerators page of The Wall Street Journal last year after announcing it onstage at last year's VentureCrushNY event.