JONES DAY TALKS®: A View from the Inside: A Conversation with Koch’s Nick Hoffman on the State of the Venture Market

Jones Day partners Tim Curry and Taylor Stevens are joined by Nick Hoffman, Associate General Counsel, M&A and Venture Capital at Koch. They discuss the general state of the VC market, how Koch evaluates an opportunity, AI deals, the return of the nontraditional investors, and reasons for optimism about 2026.

Ten years after its launch, Jones Day’s annual Perspectives and Pathways Conference remains an exceptional opportunity for first-year students in the early stages of planning a meaningful career path after law school. Caitlin Cahow, Justin McKithen, and Katherine Slivensky talk about the conference’s objectives and programs, making the move from law school to working as a lawyer, and the importance of networking (especially) as a first-year law student.

Women in IP – Supreme Court Denies Review of Thaler v. Perlmutter: AI Authorship Questions Remain In early March, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Thaler v. Perlmutter, continuing the standard that only works created by a human can receive U.S. copyright protection. This raises complex questions as businesses continue to aggressively introduce AI to their processes. Partners Meredith Wilkes and Emily Tait talk about what you should know in the current AI landscape, AI risk mitigation, and 10 years of “Women in IP” at Jones Day.

In one of the most aggressive regulatory shake-ups in modern pharmaceutical history, the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher Pilot Program, or CNPV, can dramatically reduce approval times for new drug introductions. Jones Day’s Jessica Tierney and Melissa Mannion explain how the program works and what potential applicants need to know.

Jones Day’s Miguel Eaton talks with associates Stephen Collier and Anthony Kim about moving from law school to life as a lawyer. They look back at the recruiting and interview process and share some valuable tips and insights. The conversation concludes with a focus on the value of building a professional brand.

The funding and operational models attendant to college and university infrastructure and facilities have remained largely unaltered for nearly 100 years. But shifts in demographics, new economic and financial challenges, and changing attitudes toward higher education have raised numerous questions. Partner Brian Sedlak welcomes Christopher Good, a managing director at RBC Capital Markets, and Mike Mitchell, a research administrator at The Ohio State University. They discuss the evolving higher education landscape, pressures on the traditional revenue streams, and P3s (Public Private Partnerships) in university settings.

Sometimes overlooked or minimized, intellectual property matters should be carefully considered in the assessment of venture capital and early-stage deals. Artificial intelligence-related issues, geopolitical concerns, including China, a constantly evolving regulatory landscape, and numerous other factors continue to underscore the importance of effective IP due diligence. In this episode of our Emerging Growth and VC series, Ka-on Li, co-leader of Jones Day’s Intellectual Property Transactions team, joins Tim Curry and Taylor Stevens to discuss important issues to consider when preparing for IP diligence in venture deals.

Complexities like the war in Ukraine and the push to net zero have created both challenges and investment opportunities in the European energy market. A changing dynamic has affected the long-term viability of this historically stable regulatory environment. Host Brian Sedlak and his panel of Jones Day partners Michelle Davies, Paul Jones and Vica Irani discuss the future of energy transition in the United Kingdom in this fifth installment of the Real Assets Roundup.

Different legal frameworks, enforcement priorities, and investigations procedures across jurisdictions all present regulatory and compliance challenges for multinational corporates. Jones Day’s Investigations and White Collar Practice leader Ted Chung and partner Veronica Dragalin, former Chief of the Anti-corruption Prosecution Office for the Republic of Moldova and Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, talk about global trends in cross-border investigations and enforcement.

The demand for data centers driven by AI and cloud migration have strained the energy infrastructure. As power consumption exceeds availability, the legal and business challenges of securing power, building out infrastructure and allocating risk have become key issues for the industry. In this episode of the “Real Assets Roundup,” Jones Day partners Brian Sedlak, Paul Jones, Jeff Schlegel and Melissa Vandewater discuss the energy and utility issues facing the data center industry and where future solutions may be found.