David Young

Partner, Cooley LLP

David Young is a partner in Cooley’s business department and is a member of the Firm’s Emerging Companies practice group. Mr. Young joined the Firm in 2012 and is a founding partner of its Los Angeles office. David concentrates in the representation of emerging growth companies at all stages, as well as the venture capital firms, strategic investors and investment banks that finance these companies. In addition to providing strategic counseling, his practice encompasses venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, equity compensation matters, SEC reporting and disclosure, intellectual property licensing, complex corporate partnering transactions and corporate governance. He represents both public and private companies, primarily in the digital media, technology, cleantech, life sciences and media and entertainment sectors, and also frequently represents venture capital firms and other investors in financings and underwriters in public offerings. Prior to joining Cooley, David was a partner at DLA Piper, serving as the chair of its Corporate and Finance Group for its Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix offices.  Prior to that, after spending time working with emerging companies in each of San Diego, Silicon Valley and Seattle, in 2000 David was a founder of the Los Angeles office of Venture Law Group. David obtained his MBA in Finance from University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and his JD from USC Gould School of Law.

Articles by David Young

How Shaun Merritt Vibe-Coded Karrot.ai As A Solo Builder

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Shaun Merritt, cofounder and CTO of Karrot.ai, a LinkedIn ABM tool. Shaun was kind enough to share a comprehensive breakdown of how...

7 Steps to Build a Product That Sells Itself

Learn the 7 steps to product-led growth (PLG) to build a product that sells itself. Drive activation, boost conversions, and scale efficiently with Wes Bush from ProductLed....
Balancing self-care and startup pressure as a founder

The Founder’s Mental Health Playbook: What I Learned After Nearly Burning Out

A hard-won guide to staying mentally healthy while building a startup I founded Stitcher, the podcast platform, in 2007 and ran it for seven years until we sold in 2014....

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for Early Stage Companies

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for Early Stage Companies

In our latest session from the Mucker Growth Series featuring Ethan Smith from Graphite, we explored AEO, a significant new approach for optimizing visibility in AI-driven search, particularly relevant as...

Startup Guide to AI Visibility Be the Brand ChatGPT Recommends

Startup Guide to AI Visibility: Be the Brand ChatGPT Recommends

Introduction Today, users aren’t just searching on Google. They’re asking ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI systems for advice. AI visibility is the new frontier of brand awareness....

Practical Uses of AI Automation for Startup Operations

Practical Uses of AI & Automation for Startup Operations

In a recent Mucker Growth Series session, we invited Rock Vitale, Founder & CEO of Easie, to share how he’s helped early-stage teams move from manual, fragmented workflows to streamlined,...

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