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Erin Sedloff joined Mainsail as associate general counsel in 2021 after having worked in private practice for almost a decade. At her last firm, Sedloff worked as outside general counsel for startups helping high-growth technology companies successfully raise capital and build their businesses from formation through exit.
This role included advising her clients through financing rounds, M&A, cross-border flip, and other strategic transactions, while acting as a trusted advisor to navigate the wide range of legal challenges her clients faced throughout their lifecycle as a startup. Sedloff served as the go-to lawyer for her clients, and if there was an issue that required input from a specialist, she acted as quarterback to source the right specialists at the right time.
Sedloff made the move to Mainsail as the firm was seeking an in-house counsel who had documented skills across a wide range of subjects and who could manage the internal legal affairs of the firm’s management company while also standing up Mainsail’s legal center of excellence.
Mainsail had previously launched other operational centers of excellence including sales, talent, marketing, engineering, and finance, all of which focused on developing a set of best practices and providing hands on support for Mainsail’s portfolio. The legal center of excellence was the next resource hub for Mainsail’s portfolio companies, and the fact that Sedloff had worked so closely with founders of high-growth tech companies meant that she was able to hit the ground running.
She developed a variety of programming and resources for executives across the portfolio on the best practices to mitigate legal risk while supporting the growth of those companies. In addition, Sedloff acts as a trusted advisor for the firm’s numerous portfolio companies. She’s not there to replace a company’s counsel, she’s there to empower the companies to source the right specialists at the right time and maximize the value derived from legal resources by helping to think about legal in the context of the broader business strategy. Sedloff has created internal playbooks and processes to create efficiency around executing on strategic transactions both internally and across the portfolio.
Alex Allemann, shareholder and member of board of directors at Winstead PC, acclaims Sedloff’s leadership at Mainsail. “Erin is a practical and excellent technical attorney. However, what sets Erin apart is her ability to serve as an effective, trusted advisor not only to Mainsail, but also Mainsail’s portfolio company founder teams,” he highlights. “It’s clear that founders view Erin as a key component of the Mainsail value proposition.”
Among the initiatives Sedloff has undertaken has been drafting and deploying a cross-portfolio AI Acceptable Use Policy. That initiative was credited by one of Mainsail’s partners as a valuable piece of IP for the firm.
“AI is changing the way the world is expecting technology to serve them and the law surrounding the use of AI is continuing to evolve at a rapid pace. It reminds me a bit of navigating with a paper map on dirt roads,” Sedloff says. “We’re crafting policies in real time based on the information available and moving forward with conviction and, of course, as much humor as we can muster.”
Sedloff is a leader among her peers and recently spoke on a panel at the Women’s General Counsel Network conference, where she was asked to represent the investor’s perspective on industry standards as it relates to AI.
Beyond legal, Sedloff has risen as a leader within the firm, having co-led the launch of a cross-portfolio women’s affinity group at Mainsail called EMPOWER. “EMPOWER already has more than 250 members between the portfolio and Mainsail,” Sedloff explains. “There is so much enthusiasm and excitement about fostering connections amongst female leaders across the portfolio and Mainsail. Bringing those women together into peer mentorship pods [and] networking dinners and educational and thought-provoking webinars has highlighted the incredible sense of community Mainsail fosters across its portfolio.”
Since coming in-house, Sedloff has made an immediate impact both inside and outside the legal department. She recently won the company’s “Mission to Mars” award, a peer-selected award given to two people at Mainsail you’d most like to travel with you to the red planet. It’s not an award one typically would think of awarding to a lawyer, but Sedloff has proven that the most effective in-house counsels are those who are able to unite companies, not divide.
“Erin is much more than any title might suggest,” says Peter Massumi, co-founder of Massumi + Consoli. “I have gotten to know Erin well since she started, and to see how she has shaped the legal function within Mainsail and its companies—she has pushed boundaries to create immense value. And this is just the beginning.”
If it isn’t already apparent, Sedloff doesn’t stay in her lane. She wants people to trust her and to succeed with her. That means working across the firm as both a business and legal resource by truly understanding the needs of the firm and each of the portfolio companies that Mainsail has partnered with.
Sedloff is effusive when she talks about her work at Mainsail. “I have a truly incredible job: I get to work on exciting projects with highly motivated and intelligent people, who all deeply respect and care about one another. Entering as the first in-house counsel of the [then] eighteen-year-old firm was a daunting task; however, the leadership team at Mainsail has given me freedom to build out a legal department that will continue to evolve and scale as Mainsail continues to grow,” Sedloff says. “Being affiliated with Mainsail’s brand is truly the honor of a lifetime.”
An Effective Leader
Despite every wildly varied and intensive experience Erin Sedloff has had as a lawyer, what makes her so effective in her chosen profession was a result of the varied experiences she had before going to law school. Before ten years in private practice that included acting as an outside general counsel for startups, she worked in management consulting, staffed on projects reaching from southern Spain to Minneapolis. She then went on to lead active travel expeditions throughout the world, including Central America, Europe, and many stops in between. These travels included a several-hundred-mile biking trip across Alaska, before returning to California to pursue law school at UC Law San Francisco (formerly known as UC Hastings).
“I learned how to be a leader and how to navigate unknown landscapes with conviction by leading groups of executives on adventure travel trips in some of the most remote destinations in the world,” Sedloff says. “This was in a time—not so long ago—where GPS was not readily available, so we still relied on paper maps. More than once I found myself in a destination I had never been to before. I knew that if I took a wrong turn, I could end up leading the group dozens of miles in the wrong direction. I had to make decisions with limited information, a lot of conviction, and as much humor as I could muster. Most importantly, I learned quickly that the key to my success was not necessarily always being right, but in my ability to understand people and earn their trust in a very short period of time.”
Expertise Spotlight
Winstead represents founders, entrepreneurs, startups, and emerging growth companies, as well as angel investors, venture capitalists, private equity funds, and other institutional investors. Our team has deep experience in focus areas including equity and venture financings, convertible debt financings, commercial transactions, consulting and professional services agreements, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, intellectual property protection, technology commercialization and licensing, privacy and cybersecurity, employment benefits and executive compensation, mergers and acquisitions, asset sales, and other exit transactions. Winstead advises clients on entity formation and capital structure, ongoing corporate governance and stakeholder issues, and tax and employment matters. Winstead’s corporate and securities/M&A team has extensive experience representing issuers and investors in a broad range of public and private securities offerings. We also have substantial experience in preparing SEC filings (e.g., Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, Form 8-K, proxy statements, etc.) for public companies, as well as providing advice and guidance on securities law compliance and initial and continued listing requirements under applicable national securities exchanges (e.g., Nasdaq, NYSE, etc.). Winstead regularly represents investors and corporate insiders with their SEC reporting obligations.
