Meet Wendy Bogers, who after a little over 4.5yrs at Baker & McKenzie (Banking & Finance) founded her own law firm advising entrepreneurs, webshops, shareholders, directors and investors with respect to e-commerce and corporate law. Affordable, practical & concrete legal advice, that was the key. Then one thing led to another, and in 2015, thinking big and in terms of scalability, she founded Ligo, a legal tech platform that allows businesses to manage all their legal matters at an affordable price. Wendy’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, she was listed by Forbes as one of the top 100 female founders to follow.
1. Imagine you have your own late night talk show. Who do you invite as your first guest?
That would be Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Meta.
2. Introduce yourself, elevator pitch style.
I’m Wendy Bogers. I worked as a lawyer for 6 years before I founded Ligo in 2015. Ligo is one of the biggest legal tech companies in the Netherlands, and our platform allows businesses to manage all their legal matters at a fraction of the regular cost in a simple and accessible way. We help you incorporate your business, create contracts and get advice from specialised lawyers.
3. Please explain the Ligo business & your role in the company. What does your day to day and a typical month at work look like?
At Ligo, we help entrepreneurs set up their legal company structure to make sure they get off to a flying start. In addition, we help companies create, sign and manage all legal documents in one place, making it as easy as possible, so they can focus on running and growing the business. We are saving people from doing tedious, time-consuming legal paperwork that can be automated with technology. Our software enables you to do certain things yourself, in a self-service kind of way, which otherwise may have required a notary or an expensive lawyer. Our system generates legal documents based on specific requirements, which can then be digitally signed and automatically stored securely. That way, you’ll never “lose” a legal document or forget about a contract expiring.
As Ligo’s founder and CEO, I set the general strategy for the business and am constantly on the lookout for interesting opportunities which the team then helps execute on. My week consists of team meetings, 1:1s with managers, product meetings, meetings with external partners and then a large part of my time is spent on research, developing and monitoring the company’s strategy and growth, based on our monthly and quarterly goals.
4. “The good, the bad and the ugly” about being a founder & CEO in the Legal tech scene. Spill!
The Good: There's something magical about seeing a new product come to life. The process is great, brainstorming with the team and coming to the best possible solution. Then when you see that people really use what you have created, and that you make life easier for these people - that’s the best thing there is!
The Bad: The legal market is traditional, not transparent and very rigid. Whilst the market is very ready for innovation and change, regulations and professional associations are - in my view - holding back progress.
The Ugly: You often see at tech startups that they are initially dependent on investments. That was also the case with us. As the end of your runway approaches, you sometimes have to make very unpopular decisions, ones that can really keep you awake at night. An example of this is, for example, letting people go even though they are incredibly talented and have worked very hard for the company. That’s really tough.
5. What motivated you to make your career change(s)? What were you hoping to find when you left a top tier firm to set out on your own?
I stopped practising as a lawyer and became an entrepreneur because I saw opportunities and wanted to take matters into my own hands. I really believe it is a fundamental right for every business to have access to high quality legal services. To enable this access, I realised that the way legal services were being delivered had to change - and I knew that using technology was the key. I wanted to innovate and create a product with real ease of use. A legal solution that makes people happy.
6. How did you make the move to your current “job” as an entrepreneur? For others looking to make a similar change, what would be the #1 advice you would give them?
Really just do it. Entrepreneurship is mainly “doing it”, so you need to start moving. When you see an opportunity, seize it. You can spend months or even years brooding and tweaking the best business plan, but in the meantime others will catch up and overtake you because they actually started.
7. What do you consider the most valuable transferable skills that you developed as a corporate lawyer? Name as many, or be as concise as you’d like.
The fact that you only stop working when the work is finished and that you can deliver top notch legal quality. You’re trained to do both. The first - only stopping once the work is done - can be a pitfall when you’re an entrepreneur because nothing is ever finished.
A big difference between being an entrepreneur and a corporate lawyer is that as a tech entrepreneur, you’re continuously taking risks (and seizing the opportunity that comes with them!) whereas as a lawyer the default is identifying and covering every risk, however small. Thankfully, I could leave behind the lawyer default of “covering risks” approach quite easily, because I felt - and still do feel - comfortable taking risks.
8. What habits or skills, if anything, did you have to unlearn? Which skills and habits did you have to develop rapidly to succeed as a founder & CEO?
What I've had to unlearn is writing like a lawyer. If you want to be able to explain something to a wider audience, you should move away from the standard “lawyerly” type of writing.
What I had to learn quickly was how to manage a team: how to bring people with diverse backgrounds and personalities together, motivating and giving them the freedom to determine how they should approach and solve challenges. What I found difficult in the very beginning is making mistakes and accepting them, especially my own mistakes. The legal profession has no tolerance for mistakes. In a fast-growing tech company with an ambition to truly change a market, you have to create an environment where making mistakes is not just okay, but in which it is actually even encouraged because no risk means no learnings and no progress.
9. What - if anything - do you miss from your time working as a corporate lawyer in private practice, and what are you most happy about to have left behind?
Right before I quit my job, I thought I was going to miss lots of things. I had a great time with my former colleagues and learned a lot, but honestly I don't miss it. I’m also glad to have left that culture behind. What I do miss is the peace of mind I had on a Saturday, Sunday and during a holiday. When you run a business, you’re never off!
10. It’s 2040. What does your life look like, in an ideal scenario?
Then I'll be enjoying life even more I hope! In 20 years time, I hope to be able to look back on having built a great company that has made life easier for companies all over the world.
11. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your 15 year younger self?
Entrepreneurship is truly fantastic, so I would definitely tell myself to start doing this during university. Looking back, I could have spent the free time I had back then more wisely. There are so many fascinating and interesting facets of entrepreneurship, and I’d have loved to have developed myself in them sooner. Every year of entrepreneurship brings you so much experience and learnings. I can’t even begin to express how incredibly valuable and worthwhile it is!
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