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When Should I Incorporate My Startup Hero 301480c048046d1d2ab1718b93bdbbf8437e0fe2d1028a72363781e5dd3f2914

The Startup Clock Starts When You Incorporate

The official start date for your startup is the date you incorporate the business. This is obviously important for tax purposes, but may also dramatically influence how potential investors, customers, and competitors look at you. My rule of thumb expectation is that it should take two months to set up the legal entity, six months […]
Martin Zwilling
Martin Zwilling , Founder and CEO , Startup Professionals
9 Jan 2012
Using Data To Give Startup Founders Fundraising Feedback C67879e52099d1977ba2188d008855e0d1726b32e2152ce52f46411826e900a6

Cohort Analysis

Don’t mean to disappoint you, but this idea isn’t nearly as devious or dark as the name implies.  It’s just a straightforward, really smart, thing to do. The term derives from sociology: groups of people who share certain characteristics are “cohorts”.   Instead of focusing on average behaviors of a large population, cohort analysis looks to […]
Bob Rice
Bob Rice , MANAGING PARTNER , Tangent Capital
9 Jan 2012
Scaling up? Here’s when an option plan can help

Limiting the Number of Shareholders in Private Companies

The US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, section 12(g), generally limits a privately held company to fewer than 500 shareholders. The assumption has been that companies with 500 investors are quasi-public anyway, and for disclosure and other reasons should be forced to go public when the shareholder number approaches this limit. Since the IPO market […]
Bill Payne
Bill Payne , Angel Investor , Frontier Angel Fund
5 Jan 2012
Startup Strategies: The Strategic and Financial Significance of Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property for Startups in the Real World

Given that 2011 is already behind us, I’d like to take a brief time-out from the usual legal and financial wonkery to wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year.  Many thanks to David Rose, Ilana Grossman, Justin Stanwix, and the whole Gust team for making the Gust Blog such a valuable platform and resource for entrepreneurs […]
Antone Johnson
Antone Johnson , Founding Principal , Bottom Line Law Group
4 Jan 2012
Does My Startup Need A Tos B0093ba2f1b6d42314dc72572586824d36d374153cdeb467e597362ef8ee243d

Good Sources on the Pros & Cons of Convertible Notes

Entrepreneurs: if you’re looking seriously at angel investment, and you have the kind of product-market fit and management experience investors will like, you need to take a good look at convertible notes. Do yourself and the investors you want to talk to a favor: take a few minutes and do some homework on this issue. […]
Tim Berry
Tim Berry , Founder , Palo Alto Software
4 Jan 2012
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