Aravinda Seshadri is the Founding Partner of Venturous Counsel, a uniquely mission-driven firm dedicated to representing underestimated startups, investors and values-aligned companies, with over 17 years of experience advising startups like Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit and investors like Rakuten, Hustle Fund, Felicis and Floodgate.

Aravinda has been the committee chair of the Solo/Small Firms committee of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area for 3 years as well as a Forum Ventures mentor.  She participates in various technology and legal forums that focus on women and women of color, advising accelerators with diverse cohorts and helping to judge startup pitch events at UC Hastings.

Aravinda has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star for 7 years. She was previously a Partner at Silicon Legal Strategy in San Francisco. Before that, she was a corporate associate in the startup practice of Hogan Lovells in Palo Alto. She started her career in Orrick’s Emerging Companies Group in Menlo Park.  Aravinda received her law degree with distinction from Stanford Law School and her undergraduate degree with honors in Language and Mind from New York University.

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Michael is a Managing Partner at Venturous Counsel.  He specializes in advising emerging companies and their investors at all stages in a company’s life cycle—from formation to exit.  Prior to joining Venturous Counsel, Michael represented startups and investors at Silicon Legal Strategy and at Perkins Coie LLP (where he also did a stint as a commercial litigation attorney).  Michael is passionate about empowering clients to realize their vision and navigate the complex startup ecosystem with confidence by offering actionable, bottom-line-oriented advice.  His pro bono legal practice is focused on refugee and asylum matters; his latest project is working with Afghan translators and their family members to obtain legal protection in the United States.

Michael was born and raised in Kokomo, Indiana (rather unlike the Beach Boys song of the same name) but cut his teeth in Chicago before making his home in the San Francisco Bay Area over a decade ago.  He received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley and holds an undergraduate degree in journalism.  Outside of work, Michael is a climate activist, the founder and lead guitarist of Northern California hard rock cover band “Night Train”, and a certified yoga instructor offering restorative yoga classes and workshops for private events and at studios around the Bay Area.

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Eugene is a Senior Attorney at Venturous Counsel, advising emerging companies and venture investors on financings, M&A, governance, and strategic transactions. He previously represented startups, venture capital firms, and late-stage technology companies at WilmerHale and Shearman & Sterling, and served as corporate lead at Innovative Legal Services.

Eugene frequently advises Korean and other international startups on U.S. market entry, entity structuring, and commercial readiness. He has delivered legal workshops for Plug & Play Korea, KOTRA, and the Creative Economy Innovation Centers, and contributed to the Silicon Valley Startup Guidebook. Eugene received his J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law.

Jen is a Managing Attorney at Venturous Counsel and is a California and Beirut Bar admitted lawyer with ten years of in-house experience at a regional bank in the Middle East. She has experience in M&A, Project Finance, and Technology and has worked extensively on cross-border transactions in these areas. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the Saint Joseph University of Beirut and an LLM from the University of London. She is passionate about human rights, social justice and women empowerment.

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Jessica is an Attorney at Venturous Counsel. Prior to joining the team, she worked at Perkins Coie LLP in the Emerging Companies and Venture Capital group, where she represented a wide variety of companies and investors. She received her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in History from UCLA. Jessica is committed to providing efficient and individualized counsel to diverse clients. When not practicing law she can be found studying obscure languages, doing elaborate needlework, or reading cheesy fantasy novels.

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Arlene is an Attorney at Venturous Counsel. She holds an economics degree from the University of California, San Diego and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. Originally from Mexico and a daughter of small business owners, Arlene is committed to providing tailored, responsive, and efficient advice to diverse entrepreneurs. She maintains an active involvement in the community by volunteering in several minority-focused bar associations.

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Vanessa is a Senior Paralegal at Venturous Counsel. Throughout her career, she has provided support to emerging companies and their investors and counsels. She is adept in assisting at all stages of a company’s life cycle. She has worked at large and mid-sized firms and in-house and was most recently at VLP Law Group LLP. She obtained her ABA-approved paralegal certificate from San Francisco State University. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, the outdoors, reading, and crafting.

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Coni is a Paralegal at Venturous Counsel.  She holds an associate degree in Criminal Justice – Courts from Ricks College and received her ABA-approved paralegal training from Westminster College.  She began her career working for the second-largest law firm in Utah at the time but has since spent a large piece of her career working as an in-house paralegal for multiple startups or expanding into other business roles.  When not working she can be found mentoring young women ages 11-18 in the areas of social, physical, spiritual, and intellectual growth or supporting her teenage and young adult children with developing their passions.

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Michelle is a Paralegal & Client Operations Lead with Venturous Counsel, where she supports M&A and financing matters while coordinating workflows across multiple client teams and helping drive efficient execution across matters. She brings experience across litigation, real property, business, estate planning and probate, and is known for her strong attention to detail, proactive document management and ability to keep complex transactions organized and moving forward.

A Washington State native, Michelle spent fifteen years in the Dallas area before returning to Eastern Washington. She values the lifestyle and community of the Palouse region and, outside of work, enjoys spending time with her husband, two young children and two dogs—often camping, relaxing by a local river or exploring the outdoors together.

Shelly is the Executive Assistant for Venturous Counsel.  She has a strong legal administrative background, with over 25 years of experience, which allows her to assist the entire team to provide quality work to our wonderful clients.  Her background includes support for the legal department of a large semiconductor company, commercial litigation and family law as well as robust customer service experience.  Outside of work you will find her volunteering in anything related to the care of animals and enjoying outdoor activities such as kayaking, hiking and camping.

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