Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with startup

How to split business ownership fairly?

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:11:30 -0800

How should my business partner and I split the ownership and income of our start up? A parter (let's call him Bob) and I (let's call me Alice) started a business with no formal agreement regarding ownership. Currently, the business has minimal income and users. We expect this to change very soon.

Alice: Alice created the project in August '08. Alice has spent $1200 out of pocket on expenses.
Bob: Bob joined the project in June '09. Bob has spent $700 out of pocket on expenses, but is fine with spending the next $500 to equal this out.

Bob and Alice have each spent an equal amount of time working on the project each month that they have been working on it. So, Alice has been working on the project for 16 months and Bob has been working on it for 6 months.

What we want to know:

How should we split ownership?
How should we split income? We're interested in splitting the income evenly until we're each making a decent/living wage.

Alice and Bob have a completely amiable relationship. We're both interested in doing what's fair.

My iBook G4 won't start.

The Card Cheat — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:51:26 -0800

My iBook G4 won't start! This morning I downloaded the latest update for iTunes, and when I restarted the laptop (which is four or five years old) it wouldn't go past the grey screen with the Apple logo in the background. This happened a couple of times in the past but we were always able to get it to start by rebooting it once or twice. This time repeated reboots aren't doing any good; it just stays at the grey screen with that circular "loading" symbol spinning around and around.

Does anyone have any suggestions before I haul it into the shop, and do I have reason to worry about anything on the hard drive (most of which is backed up, thankfully)?

Sounds like your starter is dead.

Saxon Kane — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:57:03 -0800

Why won't my computer boot up Windows on the first try? Details: Dell Studio Laptop, running Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit). About a month ago, it started doing this weird thing where it won't boot up when I first turn it on. The Dell Studio page will load, then it'll go to a blank screen with a cursor blinking in the upper left corner. It will continue to blink for a couple of minutes, before finally going to an all-black screen and just stalling. I have to turn off the computer, then turn it back on. The second time Windows will always boot up properly. I have run System Restore and Start-up Repair multiple times to no effect. I don't recall installing anything or making any changes to the computer before this started happening, but I could very well be wrong about that. I thought I'd ask the hivemind before I doomed myself to Customer Support purgatory. Any ideas how to fix the problem, or should I just upgrade to Windows 7?

Can I use a retirement fund to buy out startup stock options?

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:25:12 -0800

I'm about to leave a startup to go to a different company, and I need some help figuring out how to handle my stock options. I currently work for a startup at which I have accrued X stock options at a price of $Y. From the date I leave, I have 90 days to buy out the options. I don't currently have the cash on hand to do this, but I do have approximately X*$Y in my 401k, which I would have to roll over either to the new company's 401k or to an IRA.

I think I heard that you can buy out options like this in a retirement fund, but if this is true I need to better understand the details and mechanics of it. Is anyone familiar with this situation who can tell me what to look for? Are there specific types of IRAs or anything like that which would give me more flexibility? What do I need to know?

For what it's worth, I do believe the startup will succeed; I'm leaving because my job there is not what I want. Also, I'm in my mid-twenties. So I am not concerned about using my (currently minimal) retirement fund to buy these out.

I need a nerd

hayvac — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:46:42 -0800

Can anyone recommend a tech-startup-friendly accountant in Toronto? I could have sworn that I'd seen this question asked here before, but I can't find it.

I'm launching a tech business in the next six months and I need an accountant on board to advise me and help me get my books in order.

Any recommendations?

Any $100k recession-proof business startup ideas?

schindyguy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:50:20 -0800

My buddy just landed $100k and we both want to start a business...Any recession-proof business startup suggestions? He's got a little time to work, but I have a lot more time.

I work as a tech consultant for startups so you would think I would have a great idea for us to invest in. But I dont...I am good at starting businesses from an administrative standpoint (state filings, accounting, technical setup, websites, emails etc), but don't have actionable ideas with a lump sum of money.

I have considered buying established business (searching places like bizbuysell) as well as online businesses through flippa.com, but have a problem with the real valuation of a company. Plus from what I have seen on flippa, if a site is netting 10k/month, they want at least 120k/year...and its hard to judge the validity of their numbers and growth potential.

And we dont care about the stigma of the industry (ie adult).

Where can I fit in a small tech startup?

studiosonic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:56:25 -0800

Where can I fit into (and how can I find) a tech startup or small tech company, that does something I'm passionate about with my current skills/experience? I currently work for a large UK retail business in IT, based in London - joined on an IT graduate scheme about 4 years ago (I'm now 28). I've been working on the infrastructure side since I joined - I'm now technical lead for one of the major device management technologies in the company, working on a big upgrade project. In a nutshell it's a senior system administrator role. It's ok, money is ok, stress levels are ok etc.. but I really want to work somewhere where I'm passionate about what I do and what the company does - something which is more than just OK! I just feel like a cog in a big machine where I am - I don't feel what I do is at all relevant to what the company does. They could be doing anything - doesn't make much difference to my job. I just make sure devices are managed, patched etc..

I started to look at job sites, but I kept getting drawn to things that matched my skills, i.e. doing pretty much what I do now. Or consulting in what I do now. So, I then decided to take a step back and think about what I really wanted my next move to be. I think of cool companies like Spotify - small companies on the cutting edge, working with interesting internet-based technologies and subject matter. That's great, but then I hit the brick wall. How would I fit into a company like that? I don't want to go and look after their infrastructure so I'm once again supporting what a company does, not actually being involved in the business of what it does. I want to be in a position where I can help shape the company. Make an impact - feel invested in what I'm doing because I believe in the company's product.

The few jobs I manage to find in interesting companies seem to be either hardcore development jobs or business-focused jobs (sales etc..). I don't want to go into software development - I've done a little bit within my job, but nothing major. I don't mind the odd bit of it, but I wouldn't want to be a full time coder, and even if I did, I don't have a lot of experience in OOP anyway. I'm happy to become less technical to work for a more technical company, if that makes sense. Plus, with coding work often outsourced these days I see an analytical role as more of a long-term career path.

As for the business-focused side, I don't have a lot of real-world business experience. I worked in a job before I joined my current employer which was a support and implementation consultancy role for a small software company selling accountancy software and bespoke applications, but my experience since has been all in-house, not dealing with 'customers'. The company I worked for wasn't doing too well (in financial problems before I joined!) and it was not a subject matter that interested me in the slightest so I moved on after about a year.

So, what are my skills? Well, I pick up knowledge pretty quickly as I've been technical lead for a few non-related technologies in the four years I've been here. I'm technically savvy and I've got experience of managing relatively big internal IT projects, in a big company with all the processes that involves. I've had a couple of promotions in the time I've been here. I also believe I'm good at talking about technical things with technical and non-technical people alike. How could I market myself to a small startup with these sort of skills? If I'm not an experienced developer or sales/marketing guru, where would I fit in?

I was thinking maybe I could play on the project management side of my job, maybe take a PRINCE2 qualification to get a bit more structural knowledge - but are there many opportunities for that sort of role without going to a bigger company?

If I crack that, I see another brick wall ahead. How did I find these sort of roles? Smaller companies don't generally have ads on the big job sites and apart from keeping an eye on places like the UK job board at TechCrunch or startupglu.com, I get the feeling a lot of these jobs come through friends of friends etc..

Any advice, greatly appreciated!

How do you fund a startup with (virtually) no collateral?

ohyouknow — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:51:48 -0800

I need an SBA loan yesterday. My business is in startup mode, I'm already fielding new orders, but I need startup capital to get this thing off the ground. To keep this simple I won't go into great depth about my business model. The short version is that this is what I've been doing for the past 5 years very successfully, I was the one driving the business where I was at previously, and all of my former clients have been calling me for assistance. But in order to make this work I need about 35k in capital and I have no collateral. I do have excellent credit, about 30k in untapped credit, and of course my 401k... but I really don't want to touch any of these things. Each time I model out my plan I anticipate (worst case scenario) that I will be out of debt by month 4. But how do I get to month 4 without cash?

I live in San Francisco and have contacted the SBA here, but it's a long process. There is one organization that had me fill out a one page form online for an "instant SBA" and I was summarily rejected (because I don't have collateral, which I thought wasn't supposed to be an issue for an SBA, but I digress).

I know SBA applications are way up and banks are more hesitant than ever about granting them... so any guidance you could give about how to proceed would be much appreciated.

And feel free to MeMail me if you'd like to know more about the specifics. Thanks in advance!

Updating OS on a New Mac...While Keeping it Virginally New

jimmyjimjim — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:24:09 -0800

I'm donating a Mac laptop, and it's loaded with 10.6.0. I want to upgrade it to 10.6.1, but then still have the computer start up for them "virgin" (i.e. with the "welcome to macintosh" rigamarole and with no other accounts appearing). [NOTE: you may believe that's a silly thing to desire. Your disdain has been pre-registered, but I stupidly persist in hoping for this result]. Is there any way to update the OS and then completely erase my own footprints? One way to do this would be by using another computer as the startup disk, attaching the gift computer via firewire disk mode, and updating the OS that way. But I'd want to repair permissions after the updating, and I've read that you're not supposed to repair when started up from another disk. Also, I'd like to use "software update" to check as to whether any other files need updating......and I think that only works from the startup disk, as well.

Thanks!

What are the best books to read if I'm interested in incorporating a business?

christopherbdnk — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:07:21 -0800

What are the best books to read if I'm interested in incorporating a business? In this I'm interested in more legal-oriented books (taxes, finding a CPA), as well as general advice/best practices. Additionally, I'll ask for a small bit of advice here:

Is it worth hiring a CPA from the start, or is this something we should think about in the future? I'd like to handle as much of this on my own as possible, but I'm also mindful of my own limitations, both with hours and expertise. Also, around how much should I expect to pay a lawyer for an initial consultation?

Where is the idiot's guide to financing a web startup?

nyc_consultant — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:55:03 -0800

Where is the idiot's guide to financing a web startup? I have an idea for a website. I have found a partner, and we have a good handle on the technical/customer/market/revenue issues. What I don't have a good handle on is the equity and financing path over the next 4 years - we will need 2 rounds of funding and I know the approximate amounts.

I also I haven't worked with my partner before, so each of us wants to be protected if our priorities change. Where's the "idiot's guide to financing and the equity structure for a web 2.0 startup?"

How do a few friends without a lot of resources start a business?

[insert clever name here] — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:09:11 -0800

How do a few friends with a talent and a vague idea, but no plan and no money, start a business? Or is this a recipe to disaster and broken friendships? A few friends and I have been "joking" about starting our own web design firm. We're all designers and have done some freelance on the side and the conversation always goes something like. "Hey, wouldn't it be great if we could start our own company?" and a discussion of how we would do "better" ensues. In theory, I love this idea, I've wanted to strike out on my own for a long time and these people are talented and I've worked with them before, and we work well together. However we've got a bunch of things stacked against us:
1) No startup capital
2) Can't afford to leave our jobs to pursue full time (see 1)
3) No experience running a business
4) We all have the same talent pool i.e. we're all designers. Sure, we each have our areas of expertise, but we are missing developers, account managers, etc. . . Though at least so far in our own freelancing we've been able to make due.
5) Plan, there ain't no plan

So far, the only thing I've come up with is forming some kind of freelance cooperative where we work with out own clients with the goal of merging into a design firm once we have the client base and resources to become a single unit. But even that seems like a vague approach without a lot of definition that doesn't really benefit anyone any more than what we're doing by just being friends and talking about freelance work.

Is there something I'm missing? Some way of making a go of this? Or should I leave the idle talk as just idle talk.

At least it was a shit job.

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:35:25 -0800

In Queensland, Australia: I've been laid off from a job for which I've never had a contract. No notice, no redundancy payments offered, etc. I'm screwed, right? I imagine so, but just checking. I wouldn't even be asking this but for a friend I spoke to last night suggesting I look into it. I never signed a contract at my current place of employ: contract-signing was put off because my employer was an IT start-up, intending on registering a new company name and having me sign a contract once that happened; however the aforementioned registration was put off and put off, and then just never happened (because we're all terrible workers and nothing got done as quickly as it ought to've, etc etc; insert terrible, emotionally manipulative boss here). I can't even provide any evidence of current employment there because in another dodgy move I've been on the books of another family member of the boss's for the past 7 months (doing work primarily for her organisation as well as just odd jobs for the regular boss who was concentrating on another project); apart from these 6 months with this family member, I'd been working where I was for 1.5 years. I was going to be returned to working 100% for the initial gig once work for the family member's organisation was completed; now that it has been, I've been told there's nothing else for me to do, and ta-ta now!

I understand YANAL, or my lawyer, but, sans contract, does employment on its own imply any rights? I've been getting paid holidays and sick pay and superannuation like any fulltime employee, and was assured (when I asked specifically) that I had no need to worry about the economic downturn impacting on my job security, which is why I was prepared to accept this situation in hopes of just remaining employed through this difficult period in the world's financial history.

Now that that's fallen through, is there anything I can expect or appeal to the employer's ethics (heh) to offer at the end of this engagement?

Please, to the snarks out there, no harping on about my stupidity in not having a contract thanks. Unemployed person at the receiving end doing what I can to remain cheery; I don't need taking down to make that more difficult. Assume the lesson is learnt; please be as nice as you'd like people to be to you in the same situation! Thanks!

What kinds of advertising options should a new internet startup offer its customers and how should they be priced?

tnoetz01 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:46:06 -0800

What kinds of advertising options should a new internet startup offer its customers and how should they be priced? I'm starting an online service targeted at beer enthusiasts, and we're considering offering advertising to the industry.

I'm trying to build some revenue model scenarios based on advertising options and rates. Specifically, I'm looking for help deciding what advertising options to offer and how much to charge for each, likely on a CPM basis.

What advertising options are typical, and what are typical CPMs for a site targeted at a fairly niche audience like ours?

Startup my Startup

jasondigitized — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:47:04 -0800

I am thinking about incorporating my web-based software startup. First, I am not sure if it makes sense to incorporate. Second, if I do incorporate, I am not not sure where in the world ( not just the U.S. ) I should incorporate. I may soon be leaving my corporate gig for a while to spend some time developing web based software that I eventually hope to sell through licenses or subscription fees. I will ONLY be selling web-based software. There will not be a physical product. Some of this software would store confidential information. I will most likely be hosting the software on Amazon or Google's infrastructure.

Does it make sense to incorporate? I will be spending money to do this right ( home office, marketing, graphic designer, possible travel, etc. ). I would like to be viewed as credible by my customers. Because I will be storing confidential information, I assume there is some liability.

Secondly, if I do incorporate, where should I do so? Right now I am living in Bermuda with a permanent address in Michigan ( my parents ). I could be selling software to anyone in the world. My product will be hosted somewhere out in the cloud. Does it make sense to incorporate in my home state of Michigan, the good old standby of Delaware, another state, or another country all together, i.e. Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Singapore, etc.

I am not too concerned about LLC vs. S-Corp vs. Partnership. Ultimately, I want to boost my credibility, maximize my profit, offset my losses, and stay out of jail.

Where the developers at?

spicynuts — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:22:33 -0800

New York City or Tri-State Area web developer conferences - are there any upcoming where I could network to find new hires for my company? I need to hire a couple of senior web devs full time stat. I'm not looking for freelancers or project based people. I have a start up and I want people looking for that kind of challenge who want to be part of a company and everything that comes with a start up (good and bad). Craigslist and other jobs boards aren't cutting it. Are there any conferences coming up soon in the NYC area where I could go and network to try to find these kinds of people? Where do these people hang out?

how do new startup companies outsource labor for a cheaper price?

femmme — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:35:08 -0800

What if I want to outsource a product to another country to get it made cheap. How do I do that? I am interested in selling a 'good' that has a small amount of labor-intensive sewing. I have read and heard about women starting small companies( like purses , etc.) and outsourcing the work to other countries to get the product made. How do they do that, how would I look into it or even potentially start something like this?
Thank you so much for all ideas!

How to investigate a slow startup process on Windows XP computers on a medium business domain

joshrholloway — Fri, 15 May 2009 08:11:52 -0800

Is there software or some automated method to audit the entire startup process of a Windows XP computer to find why startup is slow? We run a Windows domain here at work with around 300 computers. Recently the startup process on basically every computer has slowed down significantly. We have enabled verbose messages and we see that "Applying computer settings" and "Running startup scripts" are taking a particularly long time.

I know there is software that can audit the startup process after a user logs in, but we are looking for something that can automatically audit the entire startup process from the time that Windows begins booting so we can see exactly what is happening that is causing the slowdown or what is taking so long to finish running. Is there anything out there that can do this effectively? If not, what is the best way to diagnose this issue manually? Just turning off policies and startup scripts one-by-one through trial-and-error?

Thanks!

Podcasts about start ups and social media

ZackTM — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:27:37 -0800

Business Start-ups plus Social Media podcasts? Hey guys, thought you might have some advice for me. I am very interested in hearing success stories about small businesses that were started in the recent years, particularly those that incorporated the new social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter into their marketing plans to find success. I'd love to find a high quality podcast with interviews like this to listen to each day (or week or whatever).

What do you guys recommend?

Advice on forming a mostly online-based LLC while not having a stable physical location?

Poleris — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:13:50 -0800

Advice on forming a mostly online-based LLC while not having a stable physical location? Hi all,

My situation is this:
* I have several websites that are starting to generate revenue via subscription models.
* I would like to form an LLC to shelter myself from legal liability.
* I need to choose a state to incorporate it.
* I'd love to incorporate in my 'home state,' but I don't really have one. I usually move every year or so.

My objectives are:
* Simplify the process as much as possible. I hate filing forms and dealing with legal hassles.
* Pay as little income tax as legally possible.

So my questions are:
* Do you have any advice on where to incorporate?
* Given the virtual nature of my business, in what states would I be considered to have a "nexus," and thus have to file taxes? (Paid) subscribers will be from every state.
* Do any of you have thoughts or anecdotes on the Vermont Virtual Corporation?
* Do you have any recommendations on books I can read to give myself a better background?

Thank you!

What useful web site should I write?

jlstitt — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:38:16 -0800

I want to write a web application. What would be useful to you? OK so I have been wanting to write a new web application. Something that can test my design skills, my coding skills, and generally provide something useful for people.

What kind of web application would you like?

Here's some of the ones I use and think are cool:

Google Maps and Calendar, Mint, okcupid, Meebo, Ning.

(Note that I'm a professional web developer, so I'd love a challenge)

Thanks!

Should I include a failed startup on my resume?

lenny70 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:32:47 -0800

Should I include a failed startup on my resume? I am finishing up my Masters in CS, and have started the delightful process of polishing the resume and looking for a job. Before I started graduate school, I worked in the industry for two years, so I already have some work experience. Some time during the fulltime work, I co-founded an e-commerce company with a friend of mine. To be clear, I did this by working long nights and the weekends, and it did not affect my day job. This was a pretty small company (ordering and delivering a certain service for university students), but we did develop a pretty impressive "Web 2.0"-ish online ordering system. Anyway, the company was not very successful, and we closed shop after 3 months. My question is: should I put this experience on my resume? Is co-founding a failed company, especially while working fulltime, more likely to help or hurt my chances at getting a job?

Help me help her iMac boot from the install DVD.

The Deej — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:49:20 -0800

iMac G4 won't start from (iMac G4-specific) OS X install disk. But WILL start from the Apple Hardware Test CD. More details follow... After years of successful Mac troubleshooting, and much Googling, I am stumped.

My friend's G4 iMac (swivel-neck monitor) won't start from its hard drive, so I am trying to reintall the OS. (I think the problem started when she tried to install an OS update which crapped out before completing.) The disk is the correct disk for the iMac G4; it came with the iMac. I tested the disk on my iMac G4, and mine boots from it just fine. It's not dirty or scratched.

So here's what happens.

-Holding "C" on startup: the optical drive sounds like it's being accessed, but after a few minutes it stops spinning and the iMac stalls at the gray Apple logo screen.

-Holding "option" on startup: I can choose the hard drive or the optical drive. The disk in the optical drive is recognized as a potential startup disk. Selecting to start from the disk causes the same symptoms as above.

-Booting from the Apple hardware test CD: Boots up with no problem. Hardware test finds no problems.

-Running fsck from open firmware returns a hard disk error (expected) but it can't fix the problem. Obviously, this should not prevent optical disk booting.

-Have zapped PRAM, plus many other startup tricks (safe mode, etc). The only thing I haven't done is reset the PMU.

-The only memory installed is the factory memory. And hardware test finds no problems with it.

My current thought is that the optical drive is faulty, unable to read the install disk (DVD) but can read the hardware test disk (CD). I've seem other reports of similar problems, but no solutions.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Going through the startup steps. Next step: the lawyers!

swngnmonk — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:06:39 -0800

I need advice on lawyer(s) for a startup venture. I'm part of a small, bootstrapped (e.g. self-funded) software company that's already seen a fantastic level of success given how tiny we are. Success = paying the bills, big potential on the horizon.

To date, we've done the legal stuff (e.g. forming the business, contracts) ourselves. The stakes haven't been gigantic, so it hasn't been a problem. That's starting to change.

Looking to the next 3-6 months, we're going to need some real legal help covering contracts (both business and employment), licensing, and patents. While both of us know lawyers personally, none of the people we know can really help us directly. The feedback I have received to date points us towards finding a firm that can offer different lawyers who specialize in the various fields we need help in.

We're a little reluctant to head that way - a full-service firm is likely going to see us as a small client, and therefore low-priority (while they will be extremely expensive). We'd love to find someone who could work more closely with us, handle the general work, and lead-block for us on the more specialized stuff. Are we being naive in hoping we can find such a person?

FWIW, we're in New York City. Not a requirement that the lawyer is in NYC, however.

Would love advice & suggestions from anyone who's been through this process before.

Thank you.

What is the best way to pay independant contractors of my new web development company?

sideshow — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:55:45 -0800

I'd like to hire some designers/copywriters as contractors, how do I handle stuff like "comps" for my clients? Also, is it a common practice to tell the contractor that they will get paid when I get paid by the client? I have some more questions inside. These are partly business process questions and partly "contractor etiquette" questions. I've been a web developer for nine and half years and I'm trying to get my own web development company rolling. I'm definitely doing this "bootstrap" style, but I'm my design/writing skills are weak so I'd like to find people to help me out in those departments.

My first web dev job was for an ad agency, so I'm somewhat familiar with the process of:

1) Talking to the client and getting a feel what they want

2) Have the designers each come with a "comp", or concept

3) Get the client to pick one

4) Do a bunch of revs and get approval

5) Developers/copy writers/designers build the site

6) Client approves, everyone is happy.

If everyone is employees (like they were at my job) this is pretty cut and dry. Everyone would turn in their hours or be on salary and the company would pay them.

But, in my case, these people would be independent contractors.

I haven't found all the people I need, but I may have a couple designers and perhaps one copy writer I can use. But for this question let's say that I hypothetically have 5 designers and 3 copy writers I can send work too.

1) What would be the best setup for paying for comps? Should I tell the designers "Here's what the client wants, spend x hours on an idea"? Or, is there some sort of industry standard "Comp Price"?

2) Is it acceptable to only pay for a design that the client chooses?

3) Is an accepted practice to pay the contractors when I get paid by the client (50% deposit up front, 25% at half way point, 25% at completion)?

4) Is it best to pay by project (with exceptions for client changes or changes that I might ask for) , or just keep it a straight "by the hour" type deal?

5) Is some sort of retainer customary in this situation?

My goal would be to get enough work and capital to build a staff and not have to worry about this sort of issue. But, in the mean time I'm going to have to contract out work that needs skills outside my expertise.