Why Marketplace Risk?

Marketplace Risk is a platform where marketplace and sharing economy startups can easily and efficiently learn risk management and legal strategy they need to identify and mitigate risk so that they can avoid unnecessary distraction. This, in turn, allows them to focus on growth and, ultimately, success. Marketplace Risk debuted as the Marketplace Risk Management Conference in March 2015, which was the first peer-led gathering for marketplace startups to learn, network and share risk management and legal strategies with one another. Since that time, Marketplace Risk has grown to include an annual conference, national Road Show, multinational Slack Forum, educational Webinar Series and Global Summit, which hosts sharing economy startups and industry groups from around the world, including Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North Africa and North America. 

Marketplace Risk was designed to fill an unmet need – a place where startups could learn risk management and legal strategy required for their success. Over my 15 years practicing law and counseling startups, I discovered that startups suffer from a never-ending limitation on resources. including time, money and human capital. That means that risk management and legal strategy are either completely overlooked or largely under-resourced. More often than not, at a startup, there is nobody on the team with experience or the responsibility for protecting the future of the company, especially when development, customer acquisition and growth seem to dominate all conversations and initiatives. This is exacerbated by investors who neither appreciate nor reward proper risk management or legal strategy (but are the first ones to blow a gasket when something goes wrong). 

But, it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, I developed Marketplace Risk as a way to bring my 15+ years of experience working with 100s of startups to the startup community so they can save themselves time, money and, ultimately, distraction so they can focus on growing their business. I've seen first hand how beneficial it can be to learn from our colleagues who have experienced the same thing. And, with 15+ years of experience working with startups by helping them navigate and mitigate risk, I created a platform to connect, educate and share this information. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - a little precaution before a crisis occurs is preferable to a lot of fixing up afterwards.

Before starting Marketplace Risk, I made a name for myself counseling startups, first as a firm lawyer and then as in-house general counsel, leading one of the most liability prone and riskiest kinds of startups – childcare. After leaving the practice of law and the startup world, I set out to share my experience and expertise as a way to help startups succeed. Ultimately, my goal became to evangelize risk management and legal strategy for startups, but I realized I needed to first create the platform on which to do it. So, I created Marketplace Risk as a medium through which startups could easily and efficiently access much-needed resources. Today, Marketplace Risk is the most comprehensive risk management and legal strategy resource for startups to learn, network and share information. And, I invite you to check out what we have to offer!