© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(Sept. 12) – Polsinelli recently announced that it has tapped Dallas shareholders Adam Hull and Rick Jordan to co-chair the firm’s venture capital and emerging growth companies practice group, which includes more than 30 attorneys nationwide.
Prior to joining Polsinelli earlier this year, Hull and Jordan were partners at Gardere. They have developed a reputation for representing venture-backed companies from inception through exit, advising on capital financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance matters.
Two of their clients include Houston-based NextSeed, the first regulation crowdfunding portal in the U.S. for debt crowdfunding, and Kasita, an Austin-based tiny house company.
Jordan credited Polsinelli’s industry expertise and national footprint as factors that drew he and Hull to the firm.
“If you want to play in the venture space, you need to come in at an industry vertical,” said Jordan, who pointed specifically to Polsinelli’s depth in healthcare.
Hull praised the firm for building on its regional strength – Polsinelli is based in Kansas City – in Middle America and having outposts in strategic locations such as San Francisco and Silicon Valley, which are key in the venture capital space.
“We have an opportunity to own Middle America with our rates and depth of specialty,” he added.
Both Jordan and Hull are bullish about the potential in Dallas and Houston for growth in venture capital funding for emerging growth companies.
“The ethos in Texas is still developing,” Hull notes. “The more folks playing in the space the better for everyone in the ecosystem.”
His optimism is partly attributed to recent data that reports Dallas has three times the number of jobs in the creative and tech sectors compared to Austin.
Jordan says the money is there. What is needed is a big splash.
“If there is a big exit, there will be a big influx [of investment],” he said.
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