Bonterms

Have you sent your first Standard Agreement yet?

My proudest moment yet as founder of Bonterms. While recording a webinar, one of our Bonterms Platform customers spontaneously shared his "most joyous" moment on Bonterms: Receiving a Bonterms Standard Agreement from someone else! Here we go Standards you are really getting out there. Arne Bleeker thank you, and, yes, we'll build your requested feature! #procurement #sales #standards  

Tomorrow: Hear from two Bonterms Power Users Learn how in-house legal teams are shrinking negotiation cycles from days to minutes with Standard Agreements. ✅ Using Bonterms Standards at scale ✅ Best practices for engaging your counterparty ✅ Leveraging Playbooks to make Standards work for you ✅ The magic of sending from the Bonterms Platform 📅 Thursday, Feb 26 | 9 AM PT / Noon ET 🔗 Register https://lnkd.in/gQHgirHF Look forward to seeing you there.

𝗜𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻. Every new Bonterms Platform customer asks the same question: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘚𝘈, 𝘗𝘚𝘈, 𝘕𝘋𝘈, 𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘗𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥? After years spent refining our Standard Agreements, the next challenge is making it easy for users to quickly see what’s in them—and how their own agreements align or differ. Our goal is a system that quickly compares ABC company’s template to the corresponding Bonterms Standard, surfaces key differences and generates suggested Additional Terms (whether from our Standard Playbooks or newly drafted) to bridge any gaps. You can see an example comparison for the Bonterms NDA in the slideshow. There's a lot to love in using general purpose LLMs for this purpose, but I see recurring errors in both reading and judgment that are interesting to note. Here are some specific examples from comparisons against the Bonterms Standard Professional Services Agreement (PSA): • 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁: Proposing to add a concept of "Background Materials" when the same concept exists in Bonterms' "Reserved Materials." • 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘁: Key provisions can be overlooked because they're embedded in subclauses. (This regularly happens with the reverse engineering provision in the Bonterms NDA, which is in the second part of a sentence.)   • 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆: Proposing a Key Personnel concept (good idea!) but then failing to wrap in the existing Project and Escalation Leads (who would be the most key). • 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: We train lawyers to always read the definitions first and the same rule should apply with AI. Proposing a deletion obligation for Customer Materials, while not realizing it already exists by way of the definition of Confidential Information (which incorporates Customer Materials). • 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽: Proposing a notification mechanism between Provider and Customer for changes in personnel access rights to Customer Systems in one direction only. • 𝗜𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: Adding a new concept to an existing subsection instead of simply adding another subsection or completely re-writing sections that require only delicate surgery. We've been refining and improving our approach through structured prompts, a lookup chart of common misses (and lessons learned) and additional context windows in the highest-tiered versions of Claude and ChatGPT. The one thing I can say definitively is that you can't just upload and hit GO. These general purpose models do not yet have a refined sense of how to read and interpret contracts. But they are incredible tools when operated with the right guidance and oversight -- more as we go!

So, what 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 think of Harvey being valued at $3B? I think it's fantastic. I haven't yet seen the product, but I love what this valuation says about the truly insane energy coming towards innovation in legal. And I especially love that in interviews the company emphasized using proceeds to "hire more lawyers." Not just AI/ML experts. Not just software engineers. But legal SMEs. Before Bonterms, I spent three decades perfecting legal contracting systems for a stupefying list of Silicon Valley companies. We wrote the templates, playbooks and training materials that supported billions in revenue deals. I've also spent a couple decades finding creative ways to teach technology transactions at Berkeley Law. In all that time, I could never do what I now do all day long: mainline my expertise, creativity and hard-earned cobbler's intuition for the exact right feel of a lathe straight into product. Bonterms is a first-principles solution to commercial contracts based on best-practice Standards and collaborative, transparent negotiation on a two-sided platform. The Bonterms Platform doesn't require AI, but as a company we use it every day. It's how with only two FTEs and a small remote tech team we've been able to create an entirely new system of Standards-based contracting and SOC 2 Platform used by global public companies. Most recently we've been using AI to ease adoption of our Standards, currently a manual pre-sales motion that will soon become part of the Platform itself. Who will win in this space? At least when it comes to contracts, my bet is it won't be an incumbent - most existing solutions are tethered to one-sided workflows that were already showing their limits even before AI came along. My guess is the battle will be joined not by engineers but by lawyers who come with a deep understanding of the problem to be solved and the creativity to build the most beautiful solutions. The winner here will not be the one with the best code but the company who can elevate their solution to poetry. So what do I think of Harvey being valued at $3B? I think it's absolutely beautiful.

Legal teams love to say, ‘Our business is too complex for standard agreements.’ Then they spend weeks negotiating the same five clauses. The data is clear—we’ve mapped the patterns. On Feb 27, join me and Stacey Shaw (AGC, Careington International) to see how top teams are closing those same deals in minutes with Standard Agreements. Bring your toughest questions - this will be a fun, candid discussion where we'll dig into the real nuances. Bonterms Standard Agreements cover the full range of IT procurement transactions and are free to download and use. The Bonterms Platform helps you send and close Bonterms Standard Agreements in minutes. Thursday, February 27 at 9am PT on Zoom Free registration: https://lnkd.in/gQHgirHF Shai Mehani In-House Connect

Welcome Kevin Jenkins as we GO TO MARKET!

We talk so much about Standards at Bonterms that we sometimes forget to mention our Platform - the fastest, friendliest way to get deals done on a Standard Agreement Here's what's new: 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺. Your recipient opens your NDA invite, changes California to Delaware law (an Auto-Accept Alternative) and is ready to sign. With our new feature, it's just one more click for them to sign through Docusign directly in Platform. No more waiting for a separate email - click, click, click, done.    𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀. Getting a little nervous waiting for your recipient to take the next step? Set automatic reminder emails for pending deals. Keep negotiations moving without manual follow-up. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹. Recipients can already route deals within their team without a Bonterms account. Now senders can also change deal owners after sending - useful when roles change or initial routing needs adjustment. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀. Set structured welcome messages at the Deal Template level. Craft your best explanation for Bonterms and deliver it to every recipient. Questions about these features? Current users: support@bonterms.com Want to try the Platform? Start with a 30-day free trial: hello@bonterms.com

A great chat about Bonterms and more!

Tech Vendor, thanks for the offer to cover breach notice costs and credit monitoring costs. But no coverage for legal fees, forensics or indemnity for 3p claims and a 12 mo fees cap, makes the offer totally hollow. This is where we need Bonterms and standard contracts to get more traction. These terms are ludicrous no matter the size of the deal. There's a healthy middle ground here.