Ep 132: Exclusive: How UpCounsel Avoided Shutdown and Why It Is Launching A Crowdfunding Campaign

Sixteen months after UpCounsel announced it would shut down, it is not only alive and well, but showing double-digit revenue growth, consistent profitability, and accelerating demand for legal services through its lawyer marketplace. Now it is launching a crowdfunding campaign with the mission of bringing legal to the people.    [The crowdfunding campaign opens to the public July 28, but listeners of this podcast can access the private friends and family campaign, with early investor benefits including a lower valuation cap.]   On this episode of LawNext, we look at the Phoenix-like story of how UpCounsel came back from near death, saved at the eleventh hour by new owners and a new management team that reinvented its business model, and why the company is now turning to crowdfunding to raise capital to fuel its growth and development.    To tell this story, we are joined by two of the company's top executives:    Chief Executive Officer KJ Erickson, a serial entrepreneur who Rolling Stone named in 2017 as one of 25 people shaping the future. Chief Revenue Officer Paul Drobot, a sales veteran who previously led sales at legal tech companies Atrium and Logikcull.    This episode is part of a two-part series on UpCounsel that also includes the LawSites blog post: Exclusive: As UpCounsel Launches Crowdfunding Campaign, the Phoenix-like Story Of Its Rise from Near Shutdown. Thank You To Our Sponsors This episode of LawNext is generously made possible by our sponsors. We appreciate their support and hope you will check them out.  Paradigm, home to the practice management platforms PracticePanther, Bill4Time, and MerusCase, and e-payments platform Headnote. Woodpecker, legal document automation for solo and small firms.   A reminder that we are on Patreon. Subscribe to our page to be able to access show transcripts, or to submit a question for our guests.