THE POSITIVE PERCEPTION OF THE LAW™ – How Entrepreneurs Can Transform Legal Constraints into Catalysts for Innovation

Most entrepreneurs view the law as an external imposition—a rigid system crafted far above their heads. This perception is not merely limiting; it is fundamentally inaccurate.

Business law was never built by parliaments alone. It emerged from the practices of entrepreneurs, merchants, and innovators who needed stability, trust, and structure to scale their ventures. For centuries, trade and finance rules developed organically from real-world activity, continuously adapting to economic, social, and technological shifts.

Today, this origin story is widely forgotten. Entrepreneurs are conditioned to see law as a top-down constraint, overlooking their historic role as its primary architects. Correcting this misconception is urgent.

This is precisely why I created The Positive Perception of the Law™—a structured framework that helps entrepreneurs view the law not as a constraint but as a strategic tool for innovation, growth, and influence.

From Historical Reality to Strategic Method

The Positive Perception of the Law™ is built on a transformative insight—one that re-awakens a historical reality and a natural social mechanism that has always shaped business law:

In business, practice leads. Law follows.

Entrepreneurs innovate; legal systems react.

This reframes the core question from:

“What must I do to comply?”
to
“What do I want to create—lawfully—and how can I design a model the law will eventually recognize and generalize?”

This shift moves entrepreneurs from passive compliance to proactive legal design.

The objective is not to bypass the rules, but to navigate them intelligently:

• Design novel services, structures, and mechanisms within existing law.
• Anticipate emerging issues before they surface.
• Influence the norms that will shape tomorrow’s markets.

This is not abstract theory—it is already happening every day in services, sales, international business, and finance.

With proper awareness, it can happen at a much larger and far more efficient scale.

High-Impact Examples: Practice Invents, Law Adapts

Across all sectors, the sequence remains the same:
innovation → generalization → legal adaptation

• Cross-Border E-Commerce: SMEs selling globally prompted tax, customs, and consumer-protection adaptations.
• Venture Capital: Market practice created preferred shares, vesting, and anti-dilution—later standardized by law.
• Crowdfunding: New fundraising models inspired specific regulatory regimes.
• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): Innovative instalment solutions pushed lawmakers to refine credit-obligation rules.
• Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Tokenization and decentralized exchanges now shape definitions of tokens, AML rules, and investor protections.
• Ride-Hailing (Uber): New transport models defied categories; the law later addressed driver status, licensing, and safety.
• SaaS: Cloud-based access reshaped distribution; regulations evolved on data protection, cybersecurity, and reversibility.
• Direct-to-Consumer (Tesla): Bypassing intermediaries prompted updates in competition and distribution rules.
• Dynamic Pricing: Algorithmic pricing led to scrutiny of transparency and anti-collusion safeguards.
• Social Selling & Influencer Commerce: New formats drove clarification of advertising, platform liability, and disclosure rules.
• Blockchain in Trade: Automated tracking spurred the recognition of digital documents, e-signatures, and smart contracts.

Core insight:
Practice is the laboratory. Law codifies what proves viable.

Applying the Positive Perception of the Law™

1. Reframe the Foundational Question

Reframe your approach from asking what the law allows to defining what you want to achieve and building a lawful, innovative model around it.

Integrate legal design and business strategy from day one.

2. Elevate Lawyers as Strategic Partners

Your lawyers are not gatekeepers; they are:

• Architects of innovative structures
• Builders of robust, defensible frameworks
• Bridges to regulators and institutions

The most successful companies use legal expertise proactively.

3. Anticipate Regulation Early

Scale attracts scrutiny. Prepare to shape it:

• Document responsible practices
• Engage with regulators before intervention
• Align innovations with policy goals

Regulation then becomes an asset—proof of legitimacy and durability.

4. Ground Innovation in Ethics

No loophole-seeking.
Innovate lawfully, transparently, and in alignment with societal expectations.
Sustainable success requires credibility.

Conclusion: Reclaim Your Role as Law’s Creator

In democratic systems, business law is a living structure—shaped first by economic practice, refined by courts, and only afterward codified by legislatures.

Entrepreneurs are not passive subjects of the law; they are among its principal creators.

The Positive Perception of the Law™ empowers you to use legal frameworks as instruments to:

• Innovate boldly
• Build new markets
• Inspire legal and economic reform
• Leave a lasting imprint on the evolution of business law

The defining question shifts from:

“How do I avoid breaking the rules?”
to
“What new, lawful rules can my practice help create?”

That is entrepreneurial leadership.
And it is the future of business law.

Dr. Liliana Bakayoko

International Business Lawyer | AI & Neurotech Governance Expert