FAQ

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The Fourth Floor is an exciting community dedicated to fostering female entrepreneurship and the advancement of female careers.  As a member of The Fourth Floor, you will be invited to networking and educational events.  You may also participate in a hand-selected Cohort. More information on Cohorts is found below.

That is not our immediate goal. We aim to connect early stage companies with female legal executives for mutual benefit. In order to scale, companies need diverse and thoughtful board members /Advisors. Talented attorneys can use the experience gained from this relationship in a professional capacity. If a member of The Fourth Floor aims to join a public board, this is a good first step. As the best way to get a board seat is by having board experience. 

Yes!  However, Founders and their potential Advisors may need to build towards an Advisory Board Membership over time.  The Fourth Floor aims to cultivate a female ecosystem of entrepreneurship, and a variety of relationships help achieve this goal.  We make introductions, provide resources to cultivate relationships, and profile success stories. We may feature inspirational stories on our website and through our social media accounts.

A "Cohort" is a hand-selected group of early stage Founders/Co-founders, legal executives and industry leaders chosen to participate in a series of matching events.   

The Fourth Floor will host events for all Members, and facilitate matches between early stage companies and legal executives via hand-selected Cohorts.   

 Resources may include:  

· Rules of Engagement for legal executives who are acting as Advisors to early stage companies;

· Recommended Playbook for establishing and advancing the range of meaningful relationships from Mentor to Advisory Board Member

· Template Advisory Board Membership Agreements and Angel Investment related paperwork

The number 4 is about building a secure foundation for the future.  It is also about chasing down details and making connections across platforms.  We believe that there comes a point in your career as a woman where you can clearly see the landscape.  You understand what levers need to be pulled and who pulls them.  And you know you can build your own blue prints for power and for industry, given a solid foundation.    

As a member you are expected to share expertise and resources, and in return you can expect to receive opportunities that benefit you. The exchange of Give and Gets is how we grow the careers and companies of our next level community.

They may choose to suggest resources, offer best practices, spot issues, and/or provide timing and billing estimates when working with outside counsel or other professionals that routinely service early stage companies, but perhaps most importantly they can support growth through strategic guidance, advice and connections.  Each relationship will be unique and membership is not a substitution for receiving specific legal advice from your in-house or outside counsel.  Legal Executive Members are not expected, for example, to draft corporate documents, file trademarks, appear in court, review legal bills, or negotiate a dispute on behalf of a Founder.

A Legal Executive in our community is a career in-house attorney who has worked for a company in its legal function for at least 8 years and is in a leadership position.  Attorneys that primarily work in a law firm setting are not included in this definition.

As a Strategic Partner!  If your Law firm is interested in sponsoring The Fourth Floor, hosting a CLE event and/or speaking at an event, please let us know.

You can expect to meet great people, have interesting conversations and hopefully make lasting relationships that could turn into prosperous investments. But we can’t promise anything. We do not guarantee you will fill or receive an advisory role or board seat or obtain funding opportunities.