In this episode of the Contract Heroes Podcast, hosts Pepe and Marc sit down with Aaron Fischer, founder of Next Gen Law and host of the Empire State of Grind podcast. Aaron brings a fascinating mix of experience to the conversation. He began his legal career in the music industry and later served as in-house counsel at high-growth tech companies, including Datadog. Today, he works with startups across New York, helping them scale their legal functions with confidence.
In this episode, Aaron shares what it takes to build contract processes that grow with the business. He also explains how the benefits of intelligent contract workflows extend far beyond risk management and why communicating this concept is crucial to getting buy-in when implementing new solutions. If you’re passionate about building scalable solutions before they become urgent necessities, this episode is for you!
Meet Aarron Fischer: Legal Strategist for Startups
Aaron started out reviewing and enforcing artist agreements at Warner Music Group. In that environment, the legal team was an integral part of daily operations. Contracts were constantly referenced for licensing decisions, royalty checks, and usage rights. He recalls digging through decades-old paper contracts to determine who owned sampling rights to songs from the 1970s and 1980s.
That experience was worlds apart from the startup scene, where contracts often sit in shared folders and decisions are made by memory rather than policy. Aaron found that in early-stage tech, the challenge wasn’t finding a single agreement. Instead, it centered around identifying patterns across many contracts. Startups often have one founder handling all deals early on, but as the team grows, institutional knowledge can disappear unless systems are in place.
Why Startups Need Contract Systems Early
In the early days of a new startup, it’s easy to rely on informal processes. Deals are limited, and the people making them are often the same ones managing the relationships. But once the company grows, things change quickly. Teams expand. Customers multiply. And the questions become more complex. Who negotiated what? What terms have we agreed to across the board? What liabilities are hiding in those redlines?
Aaron sees two big reasons to adopt contract management tools early: to answer inevitable operational and compliance questions quickly and confidently, and to identify trends that improve efficiency over time.
Be Ready to Answer Inevitable Legal Questions
At some point, someone on the executive team will ask a contract-related question that can’t be answered off the top of anyone’s head. What are our total liabilities? Which customers have special renewal terms? Are we in breach of any clauses tied to usage or performance?
Without a centralized system for contract storage and metadata, answering these questions can become a time-consuming scavenger hunt. Having quick and trustworthy answers to these concerns, on the other hand, will empower the organization to make smarter choices with clarity and confidence.
Spot Patterns That Slow Deals Down
Good contract management also offers better visibility into negotiation patterns. If your team is constantly redlining the same clause or walking back the same position, that’s a sign. You may be introducing friction into the sales process without realizing it. Tracking these patterns can help you determine when to revise boilerplate language or streamline the approval process.
For example, if 80% of customers object to a specific indemnity clause and you always end up softening it anyway, why not adjust the standard terms upfront? That small change could shave days or weeks off your average deal cycle, or even improve conversion rates.
Overcoming ROI Objections
One of the biggest challenges in getting buy-in for CLM tools is that they don’t produce a clear ROI on paper. Aaron explains that it’s tough to say, “We implemented this system and made X dollars from it.” As a result, executives may hesitate to invest.
To counter that hesitation, he recommends tying CLM to business goals that matter to leadership. To the last point: if better contract visibility helps deals close faster, that’s a measurable improvement. If it reduces manual data entry or eliminates late-night searches for terms during renewal season, that’s time and money saved. Aaron also encourages legal teams to frame CLM as a tool for revenue enablement, not just legal organization.
What Implementation Actually Looks Like
Aaron has lived through the process of CLM implementation. Back at Datadog, the available tech wasn’t quite where it needed to be, so his team built a manual workaround. They stored all contracts in a central database and then updated key details in Salesforce once a deal was closed. It wasn’t perfect, but it enabled them to track terms such as publicity rights, renewal dates, and customer-specific clauses in a way that was searchable.
Today, Aaron sees more modern tools that use AI to extract contract metadata and track changes automatically. He recently worked with a client who built an internal solution like this, and he now uses it himself. When he needs to negotiate a new agreement with a returning customer, he can quickly access the previous Master Service Agreement. He believes the technology is finally catching up to the problem.
Making the Leap to Entrepreneurship: Advice for Founders
After years of working in-house, Aaron launched his own firm, Next Gen Law. He knew he possessed the necessary legal skills, but he also had previous experience running small ventures in the nightlife and real estate industries. That gave him the confidence to test whether clients would follow him if he went out on his own.
He began by joining a boutique firm to establish a client base. Once he saw the demand was there, he made the jump. His advice to others is simple. Being a good lawyer isn’t enough. You need to build something people want and know how to deliver it consistently. He also encourages others not to fear failure. If it doesn’t work, you can always return to working in-house.
Empire State of Grind: Stories from the NYC Tech Startup Scene
Aaron’s podcast, Empire State of Grind, started as a marketing idea but quickly turned into something more meaningful. The show features startup founders and early employees who are still in the thick of building. Aaron was tired of hearing only from people who had already exited. He wanted to hear from people mid-journey, while the outcome was still uncertain.
He believes those stories are more useful for listeners who are trying to build something themselves. The guests are experienced and credible, but they’re still figuring things out in real time. It also keeps Aaron closely connected to the startup ecosystem, which enables him to serve his clients better and understand the industries in which they operate.
Helping Startups Scale with Confidence
Aaron’s journey from music industry counsel to legal entrepreneur underscores the fact that contract management offers benefits far beyond compliance. Fostering institutional understanding of legal contracts empowers business teams to move faster and with more confidence. Whether you’re trying to reduce legal review times or track renewal terms more consistently, a sound CLM system makes it possible.
He encourages startups not to wait for a problem before taking action. If you’re wondering whether it’s time to formalize your contract process, that probably means it is. The earlier you start, the easier it is to build a system that scales with you.
This episode of Contract Heroes was brought to you by Koho Consulting. Koho helps organizations find and implement CLM tools that fit their teams and processes.
