Experts Build Industry Credibility

Justin Kan shares how he built credibility for his legal startup Atrium by strategically hiring established experts to overcome trust barriers in a traditional industry.

The Challenge

• New startups face skepticism in established industries like law
• Clients hesitant to trust sensitive legal work to unproven companies
• Need to prove capability to deliver same quality as established firms

Core Strategy: Leverage Expert Credibility

• Started by hiring a senior attorney with extensive experience

  • Spent months interviewing different law firm partners
  • Found co-founder Augie Rayko from Orrick's emerging companies practice
  • Augie had strong book of business and founder-friendly reputation
  • Previous experience handling major deals (like $1B Cruise/GM acquisition)

• Used initial senior hire to attract more top talent

  • Augie's presence helped recruit other talented attorneys from top firms
  • Built team with established Silicon Valley legal expertise
  • Could legitimately claim same service level as traditional firms

Value Proposition

• Offered same quality as traditional firms but with:
  • Fixed pricing instead of variable billing
  • Improved response times
  • Better service quality
  • Lower costs through technology
  • More transparency in process

Results

• Grew to 240+ clients in Silicon Valley and beyond
• Handled over $500M in new primary financings
• Scaled from 4 to 80 people in first year
• Successfully established credibility in traditional legal market

The key insight was that hiring recognized experts first allowed the startup to bridge the credibility gap and compete with established players while introducing innovation.