Shake is a New York-based legal technology startup company. Its primary product is the Shake app, which allows individuals to create, sign and send legally binding agreements through their iOS devices. As of April 2014, the app is only available for the iPhone.
The Shake Law app includes a library of simple, plain-English legal agreements that can be executed via a mobile device. It includes a number of stock contract templates pertaining to
Freelancing/Independent Contractors,
Non-Disclosure Agreement
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...
s, Buying and Selling, Rental of Goods, and Personal Loans. After selecting a template, a user then customizes it by answering a series of questions.
Tiny Law
Shake's primary focus is on the "
Tiny Law" sector, a term believed to have been coined by Shake CEO Abe Geiger at the 2014 Reinvent Law Conference. Tiny Law refers to individuals such as freelancers and small businesses that require legal services for small figure transitions and who might be traditionally reluctant to seek legal representation due to cost.
History
Shake was founded in 2012. The original idea for Shake came from Jon Steinberg, president of
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
, and Jared Grusd, General Counsel for
Spotify and an adjunct professor at
Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...
. The two men connected with
RRE Ventures’
Stuart Ellman (who also teaches at Columbia) and told him about an idea they had for a business aimed at simplifying legal contracts. Ellman, introduced them to, Abe Geiger, a student in his Venture Capital class who was working on his own legal startup idea. The four men decided to join forces and cofound Shake with the intent on simplifying and modernizing the legal contract process.
[Business Inside]
“I Just Incubated A Company — It's The Most Interesting Thing I Do As A Venture Capitalist” Sept 12, 2013
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Business Model
Shake is a freemium
Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium," is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical (o ...
product. The app is free, but Geiger has said that they will eventually monetize by adding premium features and/or services.[Techcrunc]
“Shake Raises 3million to Deliver Simple Legal Agreements To Your Smartphone”
Nov 20, 2013
Usage
As of September 2013, the Shake app has been downloaded over 80,000 times and has been used to create and sign $15 million worth of legal agreements.
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.shakelaw.com/
Electronic signature providers
2012 establishments in New York City
Companies based in New York City
IOS software