My Google London Campus Visit

I recently had the pleasure to checking out Google's London Campus, Google's space for entrepreneurs in Shoreditch, London. What a great space! Here you have access to programs like: a 10 week pre-accelerator program, Campus Exchange, industry connect, UX design, Campus for Mums, weekly mentoring, founders yoga and

Startup Weekend Conejo Valley 2015 Recap #SWConejo

Startup Weekend Conejo Valley took place May 1-3rd 2015 at Huddle Campus in Westlake Village. It was organized by my dear friends Soan , Daniel , and myself . When asked to be a part of the organizing team I was excited. Helping ideas is my true passion.

Startup Weekend Paris Makers 2015 Edition Recap

So we got into Paris on thursday morning from Los Angeles, CA to  mentor at Startup Weekend Paris Makers Edition. I was fresh off of organizing Startup Weekend Conejo Valley the weekend before (check out our Video Recap here).

I headed straight to Be-Coworking once we set our luggage down to check out the space. I was blow away, the space is multi leveled with plenty of rooms to lock startups in for 54 hours.

Cool Coworking Spaces in Paris, France

So in my Startup Weekend global travels I came across Mutinerie in the 19th arrondissement in Paris, France. This space is awesome for people looking to co-work in a creative environments, its multi leveled complete with a cafe. phone booth and a very helpful passionate staff.

The cafe'

Notes on Raising Capital

Generate traction and revenue. investors portfolios last on average about 10 years. Don't loose control of the company by giving it away. There is more syndication going on (spreading the risk). Investors invest in a management. Capital efficiency means I am lean, this is key.

Business to Business is a market that gets allot of attention. "Nice to have" is a copycat. Be significant. 


Intellectual Property (I.P.) is a very important asset for your company. 

a Light IP is an app made with other existing tools. 

Women are 12% of all easy state investments.

Disrupt!!

NETWORKING is the #1 way of raising capital. Who do I know?

 Los Angeles wants revenue and content, Silicon Valley wants tech and New York wants eyes.

What investors are looking for?
1. Management Team
2. A unique Idea in an empty space.
3. A breakthrough idea
4. Scaleability, it has to scale.
5. Defensability. Patents, Intellectual Property, Trademarks, Corporate Structure (Corp, LLC) 

How to Pitch Investors?
Prepare with:
10 Slides
20 Minute
30 point type

In reality, expect to get 3-6 minutes. Sound-byte it. Turn a 30 second pitch to a 60 second "tell me more".

Investors care about the deal. What is the valuation? How does the technology work? Why is it unique, and how can I prove it?

Assume my pitch will save their portfolio.

When choosing your investment partner, do your research! 

The Terms

What  are the terms? Whats your term sheet like?

Alternative forms of raising capital?
Strategic partnerships, revenue creating deals. (I'm a huge fan of this)

Take money as late as possible. Ask for enough capital to keep going.

Super angels make bets.

VC's grow their portfolio.

Google's Don Dodge Interview with Jennifer Reuting

Google's Don Dodge Speaks with Jennifer Reuting Author of Limited Liability Companies for Dummies and Founder of MyLLC.com and DocRun.

Start Up Resource: oDesk.com

Start Up Resources

 Odesk.com. I love shopping for developers! Founded in 2003, oDesk allows you to hire people and find gigs.Odesk is the largest online workplace, where you can hire, manage, and pay a talented workforce of on-demand professionals. You can find web developers, Ruby on Rails developers, open social developers, Joomla developers, Software engineers, someone to build you a website or fix code. I recently used odesk to have someone build me both an iPhone and an android application. You can also set your own price. 

Check out the video below to see how odesk can work for you.

Los Angeles Small Business and Entrepreneurs Needed

MO.com is seeking small business and entrepreneurial candidates from the Los Angeles to interview. Candidates should be willing to share their background, advice, strategies and business philosophies with our readers.

About MO.com - MO is run by a team of entrepreneurs, so we get energized talking with others that have traveled down the same path of launching a new business or even those just about to embark on the adventure of starting a business. For a better idea of what we are after in our interviews, please check out
our site at MO.com. We interview entrepreneurs from all walks, across all industries, and from around the world. We focus on their habits and methods; what makes them tick.

Requirements:

Must be from the Los Angeles area



Contact:

Name: Mike Sullivan MO.com

Email: query-25c2@helpareporter.net

QVC Guest Casting in NYC, Philly and DC

QVC, America’s largest multimedia retailer, is currently in search of general versatile on-air Guests and experts in the areas of technology, fashion styling and accessories as well as home design, décor and improvement.. Guests should be in the New York, Philadelphia or Baltimore/DC area and be willing and able to travel to suburban Philadelphia with sometimes very short notice. All positions are P/T depending on the needs of the network. Potential experts should email resume and/or press kit with a recent photo and letter of interest to Casting Director Sean De Simone at QVCguestsearch@gmail.com. Please put City and expertise in subject line. Please do not contact QVC directly.

Tax Havens For Internet Companies

If your website or business does not operate out of a corporation or LLC, you’ve probably given some thought at one time or another as to whether there is any benefit to you or your business to have one. Online businesses are different from traditional businesses in many ways that make them especially good candidates for operating out of a formal business entity.

Website Magazine

One of the great benefits of incorporating is that you create legal separation between you and your business. In other words, your business is its own legal entity. It has its own bank account, pays its own taxes and, most importantly, has the option of “living” in whichever state (or country) you decide. Why then, do so many business owners limit themselves by forming corporations in their home state? Unless you are one of the lucky few that happen to live in a tax haven such as Nevada or Wyoming, take into consideration whether or not your state is the best tax climate for your company.

However, while businesses can “live” in whichever state they desire (technically called “domiciled”), they still have to register and pay taxes in each state where they transact business. And while each state has a different idea of what that term means, for the most part, if you have employees or office space in a particular state, you are transacting business there.

Qualifying Online Businesses and Tax Havens

If you operate a pure online business chances are your company only exists in a virtual world. If you don't keep office space and instead of employees you have independent contractors — such as programmers and server administrators, who are often in developing countries — you are a perfect candidate for saving on taxes via a tax haven.

Tax havens are generally states that are very pro-business and tax-free — no corporate taxes, franchise taxes or personal income taxes. There are two major tax havens in the United States — Nevada and Wyoming. The only significant difference between the two is that Wyoming seems to offer lower fees and doesn’t carry the tax haven stigma that Nevada has developed over the years.

If you have a truly virtual online business, all you have to do is form a Nevada or Wyoming corporation. Keep in mind that it can’t be an LLC unless you elect corporate taxation with the IRS. Otherwise, all of your income will pass through to your individual tax return in the state in which you live. This means that you will have to pay state taxes on the income at an individual level as if it were income to yourself.

When forming your corporation, it’s recommended to use a professional service. If you choose to go it alone, you may have to spend many more hours than you realize to understand the filing procedures and the nuances of that particular state — all from hundreds of miles away. A better bet is to use a national company with associates who specialize in each state and not only know the required filings, but also maintain strong relationships with state employees — an important factor to getting things filed in a timely manner.

Keep in mind that as soon as you issue yourself payroll, your corporation or LLC will need to register to transact business in your state — which means it will have to pay taxes from all income derived in that state. Therefore, you should try to take money out of your company in the form of loans and dividends.

Read the entire article on

Tax Havens For Online Businesses - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

MyLLC.com Joins Forces with Startup America Partnership

MyLLC.com, the nation’s leading document filing and business entity formation company specializing in LLC and Corporation formations in all 50 states, is proud to announce their alliance with the Startup America Partnership.

MyLLC.com

Start Up America Partnership

MyLLC.com, which has long been renowned for its education-based platform, intends to assist the Startup America Partnership through offering free advice, and discounts on business filings and business structuring to emerging and existing entrepreneurs from coast to coast.

Along with some of the world’s largest corporations such as Microsoft, HP, Cisco and Google, and non-profits including the National Center for Women & Information Technology and The National Venture Capital Association, MyLLC.com will serve as a valuable supplemental resource for entrepreneurs from the earliest stage of business development. “Since our inception, it has been our primary mission to educate entrepreneurs about the critical need for proper structuring and filing of their businesses, in order to ensure that their startups, their visions, and their labors of love are strategically and thoroughly protected,” says Greg Monterrosa, Vice President of MyLLC.com.

The Startup America Partnership, launched on January 31, 2011 with initial launch funds from the Case Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, was conceived as a means to encourage and support the innovation of American entrepreneurs. The Partnership will work hand in hand with the White House to contribute funds, develop new programs, and assist entrepreneurs as part of President Obama’s strategy to stimulate economic growth by creating quality jobs.

“MyLLC.com is thrilled to be a part of the Startup America Partnership,” says Monterrosa. “As a rule, MyLLC.com never misses an opportunity to promote high-growth entrepreneurship across the country. We know that every business in the world started with one person’s vision -- just one idea. It is our obligation as an educational company to ensure that the visionaries behind these ideas are well-informed about the proper formation and structuring of their companies so that they remain sustainable and continue to create jobs well into the future,” he adds.

In addition to its new alliance with the Startup America Partnership, MyLLC.com’s founder Jennifer Reuting is the author of the best-selling book Limited Liability Companies for Dummies™, now in its second edition. MyLLC.com also has partnerships with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and works in conjunction with the University of Southern California’s E-Club to help educate emerging entrepreneurs.


###



About MyLLC.com: MyLLC.com®, the authors of Limited Liability Companies for Dummies™ offers customers: complete entity formation, entity dissolutions/withdrawals, foreign qualifications, corporate compliance, free name checks, trademark searches and registrations,, registered agent services, and corporate supplies such as corporate kits, stock certificates and embossing seals. These services are available in all 50 States as well as the District of Columbia. For more information visit http://www.myllc.com/ or call 888.886.9552.



The Startup America Partnership is a movement - by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs - to help inspire and celebrate entrepreneurs, their firms and the people that join them. Launched January 31st at the White House in response to President Obama’s call to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation, the Partnership is bringing together an alliance of major corporations, funders, service providers, mentors and advisors working to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of high-growth enterprises in the U.S. AOL co-founder Steve Case chairs the partnership and the Kauffman and Case Foundations are founding partners, providing initial funding and strategic guidance. For more information on the Partnership, visit http://www.startupamericapartnership.org/ and follow at www.twitter.com/startupamerica and www.facebook.com/startupamerica.

Los Angeles Ranks Second Nationally for Small Businesses

According to Buffalo Business First, new federal data shows that Los Angeles ranks second nationally with 331,479 small businesses.

The U.S. Census Bureau counted 339,782 private-sector businesses in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, the latest year for which official statistics are available. The vast majority were the 331,479 businesses that had 99 or fewer employees.

Business First separated companies into three groups:

• Small businesses (1 to 99 employees)

• Medium businesses (100 to 999 employees)

• Large employees (1,000 or more employees)

Fifty-one metros have at least 25,000 small businesses, led by 526,063 in the New York City area, which sprawls across Downstate New York into parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Incorporating your Equestrian business

Author: Greg Monterrosa

If you're operating your Equestrian business as a sole proprietor or general partnership you need to know you are operating in the most dangerous forms of business. Operating this way opens you up to liability, meaning, you are entirely and personally responsible for the actions of your company.

It only becomes scarier if you have partners, then not only are you responsible for your actions but theirs as well. If your partner gets sued personally his or her share of the assets can be taken away. Welcome your new business partners!

"I recently incorporated my business". Says Malibu Horses, Inc. instructor Inge Halliday. "Working with horses and clients really opens me up to liabilities above my insurance coverage. It also helps attracts clients, by operating as a corporation they see I am serious about my business, and its success. A successful business in turn means allot of educated and well trained clients and happy horses".

So what can you do to protect yourself? Operating as a corporation or a Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a safe way to protect your assets. With these types of entities you have what's referred to a corporate veil, this prevents the members/Shareholders from being personally liable from debts or other obligations the corporation or LLC enter into. For this to take place you need to follow your formalities.

When selecting the state for incorporate or form your Limited Liability Company(LLC) most equine professionals incorporate in the state they conduct business out of. If you ever plan on conducting business in a different state check with the Secretary of States office to see if you need to foreign qualify to do business there.

Operating as a separate entity can also give you added tax benefits, such as depreciation of your horses or other business assets, as well as pass through taxation (with LLCs). And the ability to easily add partners or investors.

So when is the right time to incorporate or form your LLC? Now! Everyday you operate as a sole proprietor you are risking your family's house, savings, trucks, animals and any other assets you may own or plan to own.

There are several ways you can incorporate your business. You can speak with a lawyer that can help you get everything filed, you can do it yourself or you can choose to use a service company like MyLLC.com aside from working with start ups and entrepreneurs they also wrote the book Limited Liability Companies for Dummies ®.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/equestrian-articles/incorporating-your-equestrian-business-3064201.html

About the Author

Greg Monterrosa has worked with thousands of start ups and entrepreneurs. You can follow him on twitter @GregMetro or catch up on his blog at www.StartupWorld.Blogspot.com

I just signed upto Social Spark

I have been blogging and on the internet for some time now. I always enjoy researching new ways of getting messages across. This is how I came across Social Spark. Social sparks works with bloggers and advertisers hand in hand. Brilliant! I did my research and found that they are highly recommended by allot of today’s top bloggers. Creating an account was very simple, the interface is very user friendly, and is a very fast process. I usually hate filling out online forms that are very long or repetitive, this was none of that. If anything it was one of the most engaging online forms I have encountered.




As a blogger I look forward to getting to know allot of other services and products that can help you my visitor. The goal has always been to bringing you tools are resources. So, keep the comments coming, and let me know if there is an area you would like me to cover. As an advertiser I hope to engage with other like minded bloggers who are as passionate with educating entrepreneurs as I am. I plan on posting one or two bloggers requested on social spark. I’ll keep you all posted on the experience.



For additional information you can visit http://socialspark.com/

Tax Havens For Online Businesses - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

Tax Havens For Online Businesses - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

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Great Free Wealth Building Seminar in Los Angeles

On January 29-31, 2009 in Los Angeles the Wealth Builders
Summit Team is putting together one of the most information-
packed seminars ever developed and I hope that you’ll join me.

Get all the juicy details about this seminar here:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3486749


Here's a tiny sample of what we'll discover during this
life-changing event:

** The most effective and trusted strategies that the world's
wealthiest and most successful business owners and investors
use today… not “ages” ago.

** Be trained personally by the world's leading avatars in
making money during these challenging times.

** A step-by-step system showing you how to build a successful
online empire for little to no money

** How to use joint ventures to leverage your time and money
into the most profitable income streams you've ever imagined.

** How to double your income and your time off (after all,
what good is more money if you don't also have extra time to
enjoy it?

** Looking for an opportunity? How about a JV partner? Bring
some cards for the amazing networking opportunities with the
speakers and other attendees.

This is all taking place in lovely LA January 29-31. Claim
your spots here before the seats are gone (first 100 free)!!

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3486749


Here is a sample of the speakers that have been lined up:

1) Mark Victor Hansen - Mark is the co-author what Time
magazine called, “the publishing phenomenon of the decade,”
with over 110 million Chicken Soup for the Soul books sold
worldwide— one of the most successful publishing franchises
of all time.

2) Stephen Pierce - Stephen Pierce is the world's #1 internet
wealth advocate and travels the world speaking to tens of
thousands of people about the enormous power of the internet
and how to leverage the internet for staggering financial
success.

3) Than Merrill - Than, the star of A&E’s “Flip This House”
and former NFL player, is one of the most successful real
estate investors in the nation. In the past 5 years he has
bought and sold over 350 homes personally!

4) Bill Walsh - as a renowned professional speaker, Marketing
Expert and International Entrepreneur, Bill has risen to
national prominence by delivering a high energy message which
tells people how to change their lives by focusing on the ability
to obtain greatness from within and live up to their potential.

5) "Aussie" Rob Wilson - “Aussie Rob” is a trading mastermind
from Australia. He has developed easy, effective and simple ways
to maximize your success in trading. The key to Aussie Rob's
is being able to visualize within three seconds or less when to
get in and when to get out, so an investor can make
consistent profitable trades.

6) Kelly O'Neil - Award winning Speaker, Author and Marketing
to the Affluent Expert, Kelly O'Neil, is passionate about
helping entrepreneurs think big and play bigger to build
thriving six and seven figure businesses.

7) James Malinchak - James Malinchak has delivered over
2,200 motivational presentations at conferences and meetings
worldwide, and was named Consummate Speaker of the Year by
Sharing Ideas professional speakers' magazine. He has appeared
in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and several hundred
other publications.

8) Larry Benet - Larry Benet is known as “The Connector” and
The Connector to Billionaires and Millionaires“. Larry
provides resources that can take your business to the next
level. He is the past Chairman of the Tsunami Disaster
Relief Project where he brought top business leaders together
to raise money for the victims of the Tsunami.

9) Chris Bowser - Chris Bowser has bought and sold tens of
of products over the internet during the last 8 years.
Starting 8 years ago selling products on eBay (as a hobby),
Chris teamed up with his brother Adam and together, over time,
they developed a “hands off” system for making substantial
money on eBay.

But that's not even the best part...

By registering and taking action NOW you can be one of the lucky
first 100 registrants that will attend the valuable content filled
event for FREE!!

The ball is in your court...what will you decide? I decided that this is
just too good to let pass up. I know that you’ll feel the same way….

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3486749

Entrepreneurial Notes..

Every problem is an opportunity for you to discover creativity. So we can stand back and assess the problem and have something God given rise up and create a solution. Problems are exercises in creativity.

Don't Be a Wuss

In tough times, its the boldly innovative companies that are most likely to thrive. -Doug Hall


I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where its been. -Wayne Gretzky

Free money in a way

Check out easysavings.com if you use a mastercard for credit or debit already you can enroll it in a mastercard program that allows rebates at certain gas stations. Just signed my business account up. Sure I'll take free money.

Financing for small businesses

I recently came across this site Business.gov they offer tools and resources to get government grants for your small business. Our government sets aside funds to offer as grants to small businesses. best of all its free.