Criterion Ventures, a national firm that designs, launches, and scales social ventures, announces the national launch of Structure Lab, a unique workshop that shares Criterion's knowledge on innovative structures that protect an organization's values and mission throughout its lifecycle - from raising capital to growth, possible replication and exit.

"Gone are the days when an individual or organization trying to do good and make money could only choose between for-profit and non-profit models," says Joy Anderson, President and Founder of Criterion Ventures. "We can now match interests to the structures that protect and nurture them."

Structure Labs are for social change agents in business, non-profits, foundations and philanthropy. The five-hour workshop covers a broad range of legal and quasi-legal issues and features interactive play with cards that allow you to explore and experiment with the various structures and tools already available to you, including hybrid companies, L3Cs and LLCs, and for-profits owned by non-profits. Additionally, the Lab addresses topics like establishing an advisory board and using different stock classes that might protect a company's social mission. In this case, companies could create a preferred stock class that has the ability to veto the sale of the company if it's about to be sold to the wrong kind of buyer.

"Too many people starting a social venture, whether as a start-up or a new project within an existing institution, don't know or understand the broad range of legal tools available to help them achieve and protect their mission," says Andrew Greenblatt, Director of Products and Innovation at Criterion. "Creating legal structure is an opportunity to set up a venture for success. By the end of the workshop participants will have clear ideas of how to structure a venture in ways that will help protect and promote mission."

Structure Labs will be held from November to May in San Francisco, New York, and Minneapolis and are sponsored by local firms Hanson Bridgett LLP; Perlman & Perlman, LLP; and Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, LLP, respectively. Additionally, there are plans for future Labs in Burlington, Vt., Boston, Boulder, Miami, Dallas, and Seattle. Registration fees are $299 per person. To learn more, visit www.criterionventures.com/structure.

Background:

Criterion Ventures identifies, examines and solves social problems on a large scale by launching social ventures - either for clients, or as entrepreneurs. Criterion works across discipline and sector with large nonprofits, faith-based institutions, foundations and individuals to develop sustainable, business driven solutions in areas like impact investing, healthcare, education, energy and the environment, poverty and more. Criterion has years of experience using creative legal and funding structures. For example, it helped to launch Good Capital, the social enterprise venture-financing firm.

Its latest venture, Healthcare_Uncovered, is a good example of the creative legal and funding approaches it uses. Still in development, this will be a for-profit aimed at addressing the problems facing those who have to pay for medical services with cash, tend to be billed at much higher rates than others and, generally, must face a hostile and chaotic system.

The initial capital for this new company has come as a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. As Greenblatt points out, it's perfectly legal for a foundation to award grant money to a for-profit, as long as the money is used for a charitable purpose.

Structure Lab was supported by a grant from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. To learn more about Criterion Ventures Structure Lab, please visit www.criterionventures.com/structure. Structure Lab is an educational program intended to teach participants how to think about how legal structures can be used to further their mission. It does not provide direct legal advice.

Criterion Ventures

Criterion Ventures

Criterion works in the social change space. Our clients and partners are people and organizations launching or scaling ventures that will create a better world. We work most often with large non profits, foundations and individuals in areas like health care, education, poverty and religion. We work with people who have a bold vision for what is possible, and we partner with them to translate vision into reality. A core feature of our firm is an insatiable dedication to bright ideas and solution-makers. We bring to our clients and partners a wealth of connections; nimbleness to navigate complexity; and a deep commitment to social change. We fundamentally believe that the world is already connected, and through invitation we make these connections visible and allow actions to leverage incredible impact.

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