The finance tag has no wiki summary.
1
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2answers
282 views
Is there a minimum amount of money to become taxable?
Is there such thing as not making enough money to get taxed in NY state? What is that amount?
3
votes
1answer
3k views
Anti-dilution for founders?
I read that it is common/possible for investors to ask for anti-dilution clauses.
Is there a way a co-founder can protect himself against dilution? Of course, dilution will eventually happen during ...
1
vote
2answers
258 views
Starting an Escrow Service..?
Anyone know what, if any, legal hoops one has to jump through to start an escrow service?
Such a service, similar to how it works on Rentacoder et al, would be a core feature of a new project I have ...
2
votes
1answer
458 views
What's a “retention grant”?
Fred Wilson writes :
Vesting periods are not standard but I
prefer a four year vest with a
retention grant after two years of
service. That way no employee is more
than half vested on ...
4
votes
4answers
529 views
Why is the finance industry so lucrative?
Why is the finance industry so lucrative ?
According to Yahoo Finance, the finance sector has by far the largest market capitalization of all sectors. And yet, I have a hard time understanding why ...
2
votes
4answers
668 views
how do you financially support yourself during start up?
I am looking for some suggestions. Currently I am in a startup, finishing my product.
I can't get a job because I am working all week long all day on the product, and nearing completion...
I barely ...
2
votes
5answers
110 views
What resources do you use to get yourself educated in finances required to start a business?
I'm not formally educated in finance but I want to learn it so I can start my business, what resources would you recommend?
4
votes
2answers
136 views
What is My Business Worth?
I have recently approached my business partner with a request to buy out his membership in our LLC. His involvement as of late is declining and a buy out was something we had planned on from day 1. I ...
0
votes
1answer
303 views
How do you structure/run your company to ensure you maintain control over the finances?
I've repeatedly heard the advice (from successful business owners) to not give up direct control over the company finances. It seems that enough founders out there have been burned by seemingly ...
3
votes
3answers
235 views
Thoughts invited on unconventional ways of raising money
As I learn, fundraising is always a nightmare. It drains a considerable amount of energy. No matter how promising the pitch you make, it's not sure to entice an Angel or a VC. Even if they agree, it ...
3
votes
5answers
3k views
How can you insure that your percentage of ownership is diluted at the same percentage of the founders?
I understand when our company raises a fund soon, my share will be diluted. But how can I insure that my diluted percentage is the same as the founders
Currently, I own 2.5% of the company. I am not ...
5
votes
1answer
355 views
Is it possible to delay customer invoices to the next financial year so I can save tax?
I'm operating a startup in its 1st year. This year's sales from consulting services is very good but the pipeline for next financial year is very very weak.
My question is, legally, can I delay ...
0
votes
3answers
188 views
What are some considerations you should make when borrowing money from friends and family to seed a startup?
The question speaks for itself. There are similar questions, but I didn't find one that provides a checklist of things you should consider before and after borrowing money to fund your business.
I'd ...
2
votes
2answers
340 views
What do people think of using Kickstarter for initial financing?
After seeing how well Diaspora did in raising funding I've been thinking (as others have I'm sure) of trying to use Kickstarter for some initial financing.
In my case it would be enough money so that ...
1
vote
3answers
102 views
Money advance against purchase orders
I’m a new small start up company. Have meets with Lowes and Ace at end of month. I believe Lowes terms are NET 90. How does a small company cover manufacturing and supply cost when suppliers are NET ...
10
votes
9answers
984 views
Business Bank Account Suggestions
Recently, my partner and I created an LLC and have secured about 30K in capital to start our online company. We are in the process of choosing a bank to work with and would appreciate some guidance. ...
1
vote
1answer
142 views
Do you have any resources or advice on creating financial projections for web apps?
I would love some resources, articles, best practices, formulas, examples, or advice on creating financial projections & models for web-based applications. I've found some online, though many ...
7
votes
2answers
148 views
What type of funding are you using?
I'd like to start a thread discussing the type of funding different startups are using and why. I think that there are a lot of people here who would like to hear the general experiences, advantages, ...
0
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2answers
1k views
How much equity in exchange for angel money?
I am not sure what the going rate is for angel money in the software space is it 100k for 10% equity?
1
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2answers
60 views
Need help determining the next step in financing my company
So my company has gotten money from the bank and from government groups. We have used about 100k so far and we need at least 50-250k to achieve short term sales. We have created some valuable ...
1
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7answers
858 views
Startup fundamentals: Finance for Non-Financial Managers
I am an entrepreneur who thought of an idea and executed. We are growing and now I am realizing basic challenges that all business face when it comes to operations, employees and financial ...
3
votes
4answers
937 views
How profitable is groupon?
On the internet it says that groupon has been profitable since June 2009. Does anyone have a reasonable guess how much profit they make?
2
votes
3answers
410 views
Bridge Loan from Relative with Verbal Agreement Only
To buy a capital investment and build inventory, a family member wrote a $3,000 personal check to my company. We verbally agreed on terms of 1 year at 10% interest with monthly payments.
My question ...
7
votes
4answers
392 views
How much financial info should I demand from my CEO (I'm a founder)
About three years ago I built a prototype of a web application. My partner collected some money from a local angel group so I could quit my job and write code full-time.
My partner was the CEO, ...
4
votes
4answers
147 views
Managing Aggressive Growth … responsibly
I run an aggressively growing (SaaS) eCommerce software company. We're becoming well known in a niche market, and have managed to bootstrap to where we are with modest investment (<500k). We ...
2
votes
2answers
172 views
Who would I sell factoring (accounts receivable selling) leads to?
If business owners filled out a form on my website indicating they would like to talk to someone about factoring and they have given me the permission to relay this information to interested parties ...
2
votes
2answers
199 views
Outstanding Capitalization
What does "Outstanding Capitalization" mean? For a start-up, if 7.5M shares are issued and 10M shares are authorized, does outstanding capitalization mean 10M shares or 7.5M shares?
Thanks in ...
9
votes
3answers
301 views
What does it take to be an Angel?
I'm a wannabe Angel.
I don't sit on a huge pile of cash, but my intention is to help startups in whatever possible way within my capacity. I haven't made a decision yet, as this thought has recently ...
7
votes
8answers
593 views
Launch on a tiny budget
I have a product I'm developing on my own, with no other investors or partners. Via another project I'm developing, I have an IP Waiver and NDA that I can use for the project, I'm using my personal ...
2
votes
1answer
600 views
Are there standard approaches to equity and compensation when joining early stage startups?
I recently met the founder of a web startup who is looking to build his management team. I would fill an executive position on that team.
Last year, the company received initial angel funding ...
4
votes
5answers
183 views
Reagrding pricing …Should it be few big fish or many small fish
We have software which can run as per user SaaS model and also as custom deployment. To advertise we are planning to host it and give it free for some time / users. But there is another argument as we ...
2
votes
4answers
255 views
How do freemium services/open source softwares etc. make ends meet?
From a long time, I have been wondering how do services which are free or based on freemium models operate? Open source free softwares like Firefox, VLC player (if you are aware of it) or other free ...
1
vote
1answer
662 views
Where to find examples of “unit economic” models?
We're meeting with a VC on the east coast right now and they've asked us for a "unit economic" model. I'm pretty familiar with a pro forma financial model but not as familiar with unit economic ...
1
vote
2answers
403 views
Know any SaaS Start up / ISV Ratios?
Many fields have standard guideline ratios for numbers. For example, in the catalog industry the rule I hear is that all costs excluding labor should never exceed 70% of revenue for a product.
Does ...
2
votes
3answers
429 views
Cash reserves guidelines
For those that are running profitable ventures, some amount of cash reserves are necessary to:
Smooth out the variability of cash flows
Be prepared for emergencies such as an office flood or a ...
4
votes
4answers
168 views
What methodology can I use get a snapshot of my business finances?
Currently I have very little book-keeping processes - it all gets put into a spreadsheet at the end of the year, and I take it to my accountant who files my taxes and generates a couple of statements ...
4
votes
2answers
274 views
Have you applied for R&D tax credits?
Like many software product companies, we spent an exorbitant amount of money in 2008 developing our product. I’ve heard that there are federal R&D tax credits available ("Section 41 Credit"), but ...
6
votes
3answers
278 views
How big should a company's rainy day fund be?
"They" have always said that, as an individual, we should have enough in cash savings to cover 3-6 months of living expenses.
Have you heard of a rule of thumb for (small) businesses? How do you ...
2
votes
2answers
200 views
How to do financial planning for family before starting a startup?
How to plan such that family financial are planned? What should be part of plan and what should not?
