Paul is a past chair of Venture Best as well as a serial venture capital-backed entrepreneur and institutional venture capital investor. In his legal practice, he leverages his experiences on both sides of the entrepreneur/investor table to help clients across the country turn good ideas into great scalable businesses. Paul is particularly adept at assisting less-experienced entrepreneurs translate their visions and ideas into fundable business plans – and seeing that funding is accomplished on terms that reflect the entrepreneurs’ full value within the realities of the marketplace. He is also well-regarded for his insights in the areas of building and managing start-up teams, and managing complex relationships with investors, partners, and customers
Paul began his legal career in Silicon Valley in 1985, where he represented dozens of start-ups from initial formation through venture capital financings, public offerings, and other exit transactions. He has twice quit practicing law to join founding teams of venture-backed start-ups in North and South Carolina, where he was recognized as an “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, and was involved as a director and senior vice president in a $60 million IPO just 10 months after a $250,000 seed round. Paul quit law a third time to co-manage a $26 million early-stage venture capital fund. Since returning to Wisconsin, he has been both a “lone wolf” and “pack” angel investor. He was the first “Entrepreneur in Residence” at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s College of Business, and is a blogger and frequent speaker on entrepreneurship and risk capital investing. Paul authored the book “Breaking Out of Silicon Valley.”