Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Quiz
Thinking Out of the Box
It is quite hard to change your thinking pattern...
How do you break away from habit and start thinking creatively? Just as the body needs exercise, so does the mind. Let's start with a mind-stretcher that I call Thinking Out of the Box.
Draw a square (or print out the ones below) and divide it into four areas of equal size and shape. Easy? Okay, draw another square and find an alternative way to divide it into four equal parts. Find as many alternative solutions as you can. It isn't easy, so take your time. Find as many solutions as possible.
Take this quiz and send us your answer in a post. We will post the answers next week.
It is quite hard to change your thinking pattern...
How do you break away from habit and start thinking creatively? Just as the body needs exercise, so does the mind. Let's start with a mind-stretcher that I call Thinking Out of the Box.
Draw a square (or print out the ones below) and divide it into four areas of equal size and shape. Easy? Okay, draw another square and find an alternative way to divide it into four equal parts. Find as many alternative solutions as you can. It isn't easy, so take your time. Find as many solutions as possible.
Take this quiz and send us your answer in a post. We will post the answers next week.
Quiz
What do the words "Almost" and "Biopsy" have in common?
Send us your answer in a post. We will post the answer next week.
Send us your answer in a post. We will post the answer next week.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Articles of Interest
Social Networks a Lifeline for the Chronically Ill
by Claire Cain Miller
Published: March 24, 2010
New York Times
For many people, social networks are a place for idle chatter about what they made for dinner or sharing cute pictures of their pets. But for people living with chronic diseases or disabilities, they play a more vital role.
“It’s really literally saved my life, just to be able to connect with other people,” said Sean Fogerty, 50, who has multiple sclerosis, is recovering from brain cancer and spends an hour and a half each night talking with other patients online.
People fighting chronic illnesses are less likely than others to have Internet access, but once online they are more likely to blog or participate in online discussions about health problems, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation.
“If they can break free from the anchors holding them down, people living with chronic disease who go online are finding resources that are more useful than the rest of the population,” said Susannah Fox, associate director of digital strategy at Pew and author of the report.
They are gathering on big patient networking sites like PatientsLikeMe, HealthCentral, Inspire, CureTogether and Alliance Health Networks, and on small sites started by patients on networks like Ning and Wetpaint.
How to Organize a New Startup Business
Thinking Outside the Box
by Guest Columinst
Peter Rothberg
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
1540 Broadway, 14th Fl
New York, NY
Many entrepreneurs think that their new startups need to be organized as limited liability companies (LLCs). They, and you, might be surprised to learn that’s not always the case. One of the primary issues to consider is that of losses; a familiar concern for startups in the first years of operation. Yes, a founder who is active in the business can use losses from LLC operations to offset almost any kind of income. But until the LLC startup is sold, or generates income from its operations many years down the line, the amount of other founder income that LLC startup losses can shelter is limited to the founder’s investment in the startup. This does not typically amount to big bucks.
Compound that with VC reluctance to invest in LLCs, difficulty in incentivizing LLC employees with options, and higher cost. Now add the significant hassle of running the financial books for LLCs (managing capital accounts and sending out K1 tax returns to LLC members). Considering all that, starting your new company as an LLC looks… well…daunting, to say the least. Instead, founders of startups should look into a more typical startup planning model for VC financing: a corporation.
So, a few practice tips before you select the legal vehicle for your startup
venture:
1. Consider the timing to institutional fundraising;
2. Consider the type and amount of Founder capital contributions to the startup, and the nature and amount of the Founder’s income from sources other than the startup; and
3. Measure the value of the tax benefits provided by use of an LLC structure against the additional costs that use of that structure will entail, especially if seeking outside institutional equity investment is part of the financial plan.
Please send posts or tweets to us if you have any comments or questions for Peter Rothberg.
by Guest Columinst
Peter Rothberg
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
1540 Broadway, 14th Fl
New York, NY
Many entrepreneurs think that their new startups need to be organized as limited liability companies (LLCs). They, and you, might be surprised to learn that’s not always the case. One of the primary issues to consider is that of losses; a familiar concern for startups in the first years of operation. Yes, a founder who is active in the business can use losses from LLC operations to offset almost any kind of income. But until the LLC startup is sold, or generates income from its operations many years down the line, the amount of other founder income that LLC startup losses can shelter is limited to the founder’s investment in the startup. This does not typically amount to big bucks.
Compound that with VC reluctance to invest in LLCs, difficulty in incentivizing LLC employees with options, and higher cost. Now add the significant hassle of running the financial books for LLCs (managing capital accounts and sending out K1 tax returns to LLC members). Considering all that, starting your new company as an LLC looks… well…daunting, to say the least. Instead, founders of startups should look into a more typical startup planning model for VC financing: a corporation.
So, a few practice tips before you select the legal vehicle for your startup
venture:
1. Consider the timing to institutional fundraising;
2. Consider the type and amount of Founder capital contributions to the startup, and the nature and amount of the Founder’s income from sources other than the startup; and
3. Measure the value of the tax benefits provided by use of an LLC structure against the additional costs that use of that structure will entail, especially if seeking outside institutional equity investment is part of the financial plan.
Please send posts or tweets to us if you have any comments or questions for Peter Rothberg.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
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