Silicon Legal Strategy

What Silicon Legal Strategy does

Silicon Legal Strategy ('SLS') is a U.S. boutique law firm founded in 2007 by Andre Gharakhanian and headquartered in San Francisco, with additional offices in Los Angeles, Denver, and Austin. The firm provides targeted legal counsel to technology startups, innovative entrepreneurs, and venture capital investors across five core service lines: Corporate Counseling (acting as trusted outside general counsel), Company-Side Venture Financings, Venture Capital Clients (representing investors), Mergers & Acquisitions, and Enterprise Commercial Transactions. SLS represents both sides of venture financings and was ranked #7 globally in PitchBook's 2025 Annual Global League Tables — its seventh consecutive year in the Global Top 10 — having advised on more than 2,000 venture and angel financings and 150+ M&A transactions with aggregate value above $3 billion since 2021.

SLS operates as a professional services firm using a traditional law-firm business model. It earns revenue through hourly billing, transaction fees, and ongoing retainer-style engagements, with no publicly disclosed pricing. Its go-to-market is sales-led and referral-driven: the firm works with or sits across the table from every major technology law firm in the country, and selectively limits engagements to deliver high-touch service and build long-term relationships. It has represented unicorns and major technology companies including Uber, Lyft, Docker, Expensify, TaskRabbit, Workato, and Komodo Health (often across multiple Series rounds), and serves VC firms including a16z, Tiger Global, Insight Partners, General Atlantic, Battery Ventures, Accel, Y Combinator, Benchmark, Greylock, and First Round.

The firm has no proprietary technology platform; it is staffed by approximately 50 attorneys and paralegals (most recruited from top-tier startup practices such as Fenwick & West, Gunderson Dettmer, Cooley, Orrick, Goodwin Procter, Wilson Sonsini, Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, and Latham & Watkins). Andre Gharakhanian, who earlier served at Orrick's Emerging Companies Group and Mayer Brown LLP, remains the founder and primary face of the firm. SLS is a privately held California professional corporation with no outside institutional investment.

Name

Silicon Legal Strategy

Legal name

Silicon Legal Strategy, a Professional Corporation

Website

https://siliconlegal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Silicon Legal Strategy is a San Francisco-based boutique law firm serving U.S. technology startups, founders, and venture capital investors across venture financings, M&A, corporate governance, and enterprise commercial transactions; the firm has been ranked in PitchBook's Global Top 10 VC law firms for seven consecutive years.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate & Commercial Law (BPAHAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) & Securities Law (BPAHAAAI)

Keywords

• Venture capital law
• Startup legal services
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Corporate counseling
• Technology law firm

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Corporate Counseling: Providing targeted, bottom-line-oriented legal advice to technology startups, entrepreneurs, and investors. Services include venture financings, corporate governance, employment agreements, commercial contracts, and M&A transactions.
2. Company-Side Venture Financings: Advisory services for startup and investor clients in venture capital and angel financings. Advised in more than 2,000 venture capital and angel financings over the last 5 years.
3. Mergers & Acquisitions: Broad domestic and cross-border M&A experience helping both buy-side and sell-side clients in acquisitions from small acqui-hires to complex 9-figure deals. Over 150 M&A transactions with aggregate value in excess of $3 Billion over the last 5 years.
4. Enterprise Commercial Transactions: Guiding clients through the entire enterprise/SaaS contract lifecycle, from developing form agreements to negotiating complex multi-million dollar partnerships with enterprise customers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Silicon Legal Strategy is a premier boutique law firm providing targeted, bottom-line-oriented legal counsel to technology startups, entrepreneurs, and venture capital investors. The firm operates as a trusted outside general counsel delivering five interconnected practice areas: Corporate Counseling, Company-Side Venture Financings, Venture Capital Clients representation, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Enterprise Commercial Transactions. Services cover venture financings, corporate governance, employment agreements, commercial contracts, real estate leases, M&A, and equity/debt financings, with the firm advising on more than 2,000 venture financings and 150+ M&A transactions since 2021.

Product overview

Silicon Legal Strategy is a premier boutique law firm providing targeted, bottom-line-oriented legal advice to technology startups, innovative entrepreneurs, and seasoned investors. The firm operates as a single integrated legal services practice offering five interconnected core services: Corporate Counseling (acting as trusted outside general counsel), Company-Side Venture Financings (advising startups on equity/debt rounds), Venture Capital Clients (representing investors), Mergers & Acquisitions (domestic and cross-border transactions), and Enterprise Commercial Transactions (negotiating enterprise/SaaS contracts). The firm is not a technology product company but rather a professional services firm.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Corporate Counseling

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 2,000 venture capital and angel financings advised since 2021
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gunderson Dettmer: Premier boutique VC and emerging companies law firm, widely considered the gold standard for startup financings. Directly competes with SLS for company-side and investor-side venture financings and emerging-company M&A across Silicon Valley and beyond.
• Fenwick & West: Silicon Valley-founded full-service law firm with one of the largest technology company practices in the U.S. Directly competes with SLS on venture financings, IPOs, and M&A for tech startups; multiple SLS attorneys hail from Fenwick.
• Cooley LLP: Major technology and life sciences law firm with a leading emerging companies and venture capital practice. Direct competitor for startup financings and venture-backed M&A; several SLS attorneys and paralegals previously worked at Cooley.
• Goodwin Procter: Large national law firm with a top-tier technology companies and venture capital practice. Competes head-to-head with SLS for company-side and investor-side VC financings, and hires former Goodwin attorneys/paralegals into SLS's bench.
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe: International law firm with a strong Emerging Companies Group and significant tech/startup practice. Directly competes with SLS on venture financings, particularly on the West Coast; the SLS founder Andre Gharakhanian is a former Orrick attorney.
• Perkins Coie: Large Pacific Northwest-headquartered firm with a leading emerging companies and venture capital practice. Competes with SLS on startup financings and is a frequent prior employer of SLS attorneys and paralegals.

Broad incumbents

• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati: Elite Silicon Valley–based firm historically dominant in tech IPOs, venture financings, and tech M&A. Functions as a broader incumbent whose startup work overlaps with SLS; SLS has explicitly recruited from WSGR (per paralegal hire history).
• Latham & Watkins: Global elite law firm with a major technology and emerging companies practice. Competes with SLS for venture financings and larger venture-backed M&A, and is a frequent prior employer of SLS associates (e.g., Michelle Chern, Robert Moore).
• DLA Piper: Global law firm with substantial technology, venture, and emerging companies practices. While broader and more general than SLS, DLA competes for VC financings and is a prior employer of SLS paralegals.
• Willkie Farr & Gallagher: Major national firm with a growing technology and M&A practice that competes with SLS on venture-backed M&A and capital markets work; SLS has hired associates from Willkie (e.g., Michelle Chern).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/siliconlegal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/silicon-legal-strategy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles22 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Silicon Legal Strategy