Author Archive
January 15th, 2008
As we head into tax season I thought I would publish the notes from Ogden Lilly’s Visit in July 2007
Quickbooks is a great way to get started when setting up your company
- as the business grows, most people move up the Intuit product line
- it is very user friendly and looks like real accounting documents
- it tracks and records all the necessary financial statements
- it does payroll, both full and partial
- the software costs between $250 - $3,000
- the Apple version is about 4-5 releases behind
Quicken doesn’t support a balance sheet approach: it is really for individuals not companies.
Ogden’s firm: Boitano, Sargent & Lilly, LLP http://www.bslcpa.com/
- Is ranked number three in the bay area in tax preparation by the San Jose Business Journal
- The firm helps business owners become more independent in managing their finances
- Most client engagements begin with an initial setup and we show them how to design their own standard reports.
- It usually takes two hours a month to manage. So our clients only contact us with support needs.
Common Accounting Mistakes
- not watching the balance sheet
- trying to write off certain items as an expense
- not watching the transactions of the bank statement: if you are the owner then you need to check this, do not let anyone else be responsible
Incorporation Facts.
- If you file as an CA Corp you will spend a minimum of 800 dollars a year just for being in business
- There is a special California tax on LLC’s that is based on gross sales (note that sub-S and C corp are taxed on profit).
Three additional blog posts on CA LLC vs. CA Sub-S
December 7th, 2007
One topic that stimulated some thought provoking conversation at this mornings breakfast was managing a consulting business while developing a product in a startup. Below is a summary of our discussion.
Many early stage software firms start out having to balance their time allocation between consulting to keep the lights on, looking for customers (whether for their product or their consulting services), and developing/finishing the product. Most of the breakfast attendees were able to relate to this situation because it was one that they were currently wrestling with or had previously had to manage.
The consensus: “it’s a real challenge and a very hard problem.”
Some suggestions:
- Set aside a minimum amount of time for product development so that you make detectable progress every week, or at least every month.
- Don’t let consulting crowd out development completely, even if you have to forgo some consulting work.
- Split time between development and looking for consulting work when you are “idle” (don’t have consulting work).
November 27th, 2007
Bryan Zmijewski, the CEO of Lucky Oliver, visited us in September and made several observations in a larger discussion about when to add a “real CEO.” His short answer is later rather than sooner:
Starting off you don’t need a CEO. You just need someone who can get you across the first hurdle. Then you can find someone with the next skill set to help you reach the next milestone.
Most CEO’s will not come in this early. If they do, they will require a 200k salary with equity. As a bootstrapper, it is your job to grow the company to a certain size and excite about the concept so that you attract partners, executives, and employees.
Lucky Oliver is “a community of photographers, designers, and artists who buy and sell “stock photos.”
Update Aug-17-09: Lucky Oliver www.luckyoliver.com closed it’s doors May 15 2008. Here is an excerpt from a letter Bryan Zmijewski posted on the site
It’s with great disappointment that we have decided to shut down LuckyOliver on May 15th. All who purchased tokens must use them to license images before May 15th, 2008. Working with the creative minds that make up LuckyOliver has been a rewarding experience- two years went by fast. I want to thank our talented staff for working through long nights, our investors for giving us a shot at growing a business, our legal and business advisers for lending an ear, our customers for their positive encouragement, and our contributors who provided us with a wealth of knowledge and tough criticisms. We really appreciate all the hard work Carnies put into making LuckyOliver a special place for people to find great imagery.
Other Links for Bryan Zmijewski
November 21st, 2007
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