Partner

Ian Goldstein is a partner of Drinker Biddle, a vice-chair of the firm’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group and is the leader of the firm's Emerging Company & Venture Capital practice team. His practice focuses on counseling entrepreneurs, emerging companies, angel investors and venture capital firms in the formation, financing and operation of new and established businesses and in a broad range of transactional matters.

Entrepreneurs; New Businesses.  Ian provides a broad range of legal services to entrepreneurs and new businesses in a variety of industries, often functioning in a strategic "outside general counsel" role.  He counsels clients on strategic business matters throughout a company's life-cycle and represents and advises clients in critical business transactions, including seed, angel and venture capital financings, acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, strategic alliances and other technology partnerships.

Venture Capital.  Ian has significant expertise in counseling angel investors, venture capital firms and corporate venture arms of large corporations in connection with early and late stage preferred stock and convertible debt financings and in connection with governance and exit events involving portfolio companies.  He regularly advises his investor clients on corporate governance, strategic transactions and other critical business matters involving their portfolio companies.  Ian also has significant experience in venture fund formation, including advising limited partners in connection with investments in venture capital and private equity funds.

Acquisitions, Divestitures and Strategic Transactions.  Ian regularly leads transaction teams for clients in connection with representing purchasers and sellers in a broad range of acquisition and divestiture transactions, including private and public company asset, stock and merger transactions.  Ian also has significant experience in leading transaction teams in connection with structuring and negotiating complex multiparty strategic partnership and joint venture transactions in a variety of industries.

Industry Experience; Recent Engagements.  Through his client relationships and industry activities, Ian has developed significant industry expertise in the representation of digital media, telecommunication, software, Internet and life sciences companies.  Recent representative client engagements include: the representation of Comcast Corporation in connection with multiple venture investments, the acquisition of several technology and Internet-based companies, the acquisition of multiple cable companies, and the formation of multiparty programming joint ventures FEARnet, the Mtn., Sprout and TV One; the representation as “outside general counsel” of Albridge Solutions (enterprise software), Vela Pharmaceuticals (specialty pharma), Targent, Inc. (cancer therapy), CruiseCritic.com (Internet), and Sensors Unlimited (optical imaging) in connection with financings, technology licenses, corporate governance and other day-to-day legal matters and the sale of such emerging technology companies to public company buyers; and the representation of Publish2, Inc. (Web 2.0), CoBlitz, LLC (Princeton University CDN technology spinout), BOT Beverages (consumer products), Princeton Power Systems (clean technology), JADO Technologies (drug discovery), and GHO Ventures (clean technology investments) in connection with company formation, seed and venture financings, and other day-to-day legal matters.

In General.  In addition to his law firm experience, Ian worked in-house as general counsel of a Philadelphia based Internet startup company, where in addition to his day-to-day legal oversight role he was responsible for negotiating multiple financings, dozens of content acquisition and license arrangements, and several strategic partnerships.  Ian received his law degree from Rutgers University, where he graduated with honors and was an editor of the law review, and graduated from Rutgers College with a degree in economics.  He is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.