Inkly
Why contract negotiations are broken, and why the fix isn't more lawyers. We as a culture have over-emphasized the need for lawyers in certain situations, and under-valued lawyers when they actually really matter. Time to realign and utilize the right people at the right time, to get to the right result (faster). Introducing Inkly.
In early startup days, you have so little leverage that you give an arm, a leg, and your first born to get the contract signed. Or, you have a fancy lawyer that you dump everything to, and you choke on your coffee when you see their bill.
But alas, there comes a point where this is unsustainable. Congratulations, you’re growing. Warning, you’re about to drown in redlines.
Lawyer lead times start ballooning, the sales team is missing deadlines, forecasting becomes challenging, and your CRO (or CFO, or CEO, or…) is spending her days in Microsoft Word and Google Docs. On top of that, everyone feels like they’re reinventing the wheel on every contract, for every decision.
$180k+, seems reasonable, they can fix all your problems right? Wrong. 1 person can’t handle the volume while everyone expects them to be the perfect solution. Tension, frustration, pain.
What’s the next solution? Hire another lawyer in house. Next week the 2 lawyers tell you they need a legal operations hire. You’re $500k in and treading water.
Why can’t you throw lawyers to unclog the bottleneck? Because we’ve fundamentally misunderstood the nature of B2B contracts.
It’s our dirty secret as lawyers. Every time we get a redline, we do a quick scan, flag the things that we can’t answer, and we throw it back at the client because “these are business issues, I’m just a stupid lawyer I dont know how to answer this.”
Do we want our lawyers to be our project managers to get the answers from you? Is that worth$5-800/hr?
We think startups can implement a scalable process for contract negotiations from day one. We believe that this process will speed up sales cycles today, future proof your sales org when you scale, and optimize your lawyer so they’re doing what they do best: answering red flag risks and making sure your contract language is drafted with precision. Supercharged with machine learning, we believe that decisions made within a contract can also be remembered and resurfaced at the right time. Gone are the days of digging into your CRM for a decision you made 19 months ago, buried in Section 9(d) of a 30 page contract. You can click and close your contracts.
We believe that the future of contracts places the non-lawyer in the driver seat. A redline comes in, and the council of decision makers in your business are pinged to give their feedback. Those decisions are recorded and begin to form a playbook. Your lawyers are merely a member of this council and can jump in when they need to. The result should be obvious: better decisions, relevant legal advice, and faster sales cycles.
Are you ready for this future? Today we are accepting applications to your exclusive beta program so you can see it for yourself.
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Contract negotiation is critical (and avoidable) in the business world. Effective negotiation skills can guard you and your company against unfair deals and gives you more authority when dealing with the other party.
Contrary to popular opinion, negotiating a contract is equally about listening as talking. Each party involved in contract negotiation strives for favorable terms, however, unlike a battle, a “winning” contract negotiation doesn't end with a single winner, but instead, ends in an agreement toward profitable business outcomes for all contractual parties.
Why contract negotiations are broken, and why the fix isn't more lawyers. We as a culture have over-emphasized the need for lawyers in certain situations, and under-valued lawyers when they actually really matter. Time to realign and utilize the right people at the right time, to get to the right result (faster). Introducing Inkly.
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Insights on closing deals faster and scaling legal process, from the people making it happen.
