Michael Esquivel

About Michael Esquivel

Michael is a nationally recognized corporate and securities lawyer for emerging and high-growth companies. He provides strategic counseling primarily for companies innovating at the intersection of AI, enterprise technology, healthtech, fintech, consumer, and cloud infrastructure.Michael’s passion for working with cutting-edge companies that are transforming industries and improving lives stems from his experience as general counsel of a venture-backed healthtech company. That inside view enables him to deeply understand entrepreneurs and anticipate their business and legal needs over a company’s entire lifecycle.An aggressive, tireless advocate for entrepreneurs and the companies and teams they have built, Michael advises clients on all aspects of general corporate and securities law—from formation and corporate governance responsibilities to equity incentives and employment issues, to IP and commercial transactions. He regularly negotiates and structures strategic transactions, including seed and venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, corporate reorganizations, and debt financings. Michael also represents venture capital firms, strategic investors and investment banks that finance these companies.Michael is particularly active in healthtech and was named one of nine “behind-the scenes players who can make or break a digital-health startup” by Business Insider. He also serves as an advisor to Rock Health, a venture fund focused on powering the future of healthcare. Michael is the co-host of Heart of Healthcare, a podcast that gets to the heart of our mission in digital health - to massively improve healthcare for all.In addition to his active practice, Michael is passionate about helping the future leading startup attorneys and the next generation of entrepreneurs, teaching Venture Capital at Stanford Law School for the last six years. He also serves as a member of the Strategic Advisory Board for the UCSF/UC Berkeley Joint Program in Computational Precision Health.Michael has received numerous awards and accolades throughout his career, including being named a Top 100 Lawyer in California by The Daily Journal the last five years, and a top lawyer in startups and venture capital by Chambers USA and Legal 500.

Experience

1. Lecturer in Law

   Stanford Law School

   Apr 2018 — Present · Stanford, CA, US

   I teach venture capital law at Stanford Law School, covering the VC financing model and tracing the startup process from initial formation and angel investments, through multiple institutional venture capital financing rounds, with a view to potential exits via acquisition or initial public offering.

Education

• Stanford University

  B.A. with honors, Economics

  1991 — 1995

• Columbia Law School

  JD, Law, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar

  1997 — 2000

Skills

• Private Equity
• Licensing
• Joint Ventures
• Trade Secrets
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Business Strategy
• Intellectual Property
• Due Diligence
• Securities Regulation
• Venture Capital
• Corporate Governance
• Patent Litigation
• Patents
• Corporate Law
• Mergers
• Start-Ups
• Ipo
• Privacy Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Cross-Border Transactions
• Venture Financing