Antone Johnson advises emerging technology companies as fractional general counsel at Bottom Line Law Group. He has served as product counsel at Google and Amazon, previously built the legal function from the ground up at eHarmony, and worked on business and legal affairs at MySpace in its early hyper-growth era.
Antone Johnson advises emerging technology companies as fractional general counsel at Bottom Line Law Group. He has served as product counsel at Google and Amazon, previously built the legal function from the ground up at eHarmony, and worked on business and legal affairs at MySpace in its early hyper-growth era.
2010 — PresentSan Francisco and Berkeley, CA
Founded a law practice serving as fractional general counsel to early stage technology ventures, entrepreneurs and angel investors in corporate, commercial and product legal matters.
Mar 2026 — Sep 2026
2023 — 2024
Served as product counsel for Android, advising on legal issues affecting technology products and platforms.
2006 — 2009
Built eHarmony’s in-house legal function from inception and led legal, regulatory, government-affairs, privacy, risk-management, and external-counsel work for the company’s international consumer Internet business.
2004 — 2006
Advised MySpace and its parent companies on corporate, business-development, entertainment and technology licensing, policy, international expansion, governance, securities, and strategic transactions; helped execute the company’s sale to Fox Interactive Media.
2002 — 2004
Handled corporate legal, securities, SEC-reporting, governance, M&A, and Sarbanes-Oxley matters for a publicly traded media and technology company.
2000 — 2002
Advised corporate and business-development teams on strategic transactions, M&A, joint ventures, equity investments, content partnerships, governance, securities compliance, and stock-plan administration.
1998 — 2000Palo Alto, California
Practiced in emerging companies and venture capital, representing technology and life-sciences startups, entrepreneurs, venture funds, and underwriters in financings, M&A, IPOs, formation, and securities matters.
1995 — 1998Los Angeles, California
Represented public companies and financial institutions in M&A, public offerings, private placements, asset securitizations, syndicated credit facilities, and other corporate and securities transactions.
If a former or "day job" employer can lay any claim to the IP upon which a new start-up is built, that claim, however tenuous, injects risk into the venture. And that risk grows in magnitude over time proportionate to the success of the business.
When demand for something evaporates, basic microeconomics principles tell us that the price must drop to restore equilibrium (supply = demand). When prices are sticky, this doesn't happen, so you end up with a gap between supply and demand: Overpriced lawyers sitting around doing nothing, and clients not getting served because they can't afford those rates.
Brief overview for in-house counsel of IP issues raised by employees’ use of social media. Presented by Antone Johnson at ACC Southern California conference.
