Offer HN: Help on Incorporation

http://cameronkeng.com/podcast-ep-1-incorporation/

by camz • 16 years ago

32 24 16 years ago

bherms• 16 years ago

Thanks a ton for this! I'm in the middle of trying to figure out how to incorporate, how much $ I'll need, which route to take, etc... Couldn't have come at a better time.

PS, I still plan on contacting you for advice per your offer on my submission about business filing (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1946503). Just waiting until I'm actually ready to move my feet :)

camz8• 16 years ago

No problem, I'm glad that I was able to help. I'm going to expand the incorporation series to answer more complicated questions as well.

Also, my next series of podcasts is going to be on outsourcing and offshoring. I've spent over 6 months and tons of cash on contractors from india, eastern europe and asia. I'm about to leave for asia for a month to interview/hire developers in person. I think that everyone wonders what's the best way to hire great talent and leverage their resources.

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to help! I'm available on hn office hours as well if you need to find me.

619Cloud2• 16 years ago

Great info. What's you take on branding trademarks, such as my company name? Is this something I can do myself, or is a lawyer required? Is it even worth the time to trademark my company name? Thanks.

camz8• 16 years ago

You know, I honestly didn't even consider trademarks as a question for some reason. But, I think that's an awesome point that I can't believe I overlooked, so thanks for pointing out a huge oversight on my part.

I think trademarks have their place, but it's something that's really only useful when you're a larger competitor in your industry.

Ex: The crocodile or american alligator is a keystone species that allows an entire ecology to survive and thrive. Twitter's "trademark" is a keystone because it has allowed numerous companies develop through it's trademark such as tweetdeck and etc. The term tweet has become a dictionary term at this point so their trademark is very valuable. But, it's only valuable now because they've reached critical mass.

The irony is that if you don't trademark your name early, then someone else will steal it before you do. I think that it's a decision that needs to be examined thoroughly because it is somewhat expensive. I will definitely start another podcast series on trademarks specifically to address this issue!

Thanks!

619Cloud2• 16 years ago

Makes sense. Any idea ballpark what a trademark of a company name would cost in California?

cperciva2• 16 years ago

The term tweet has become a dictionary term at this point

Technically, the word 'tweet' has been in dictionaries since long before Twitter came along...

stellar6782• 16 years ago

Frankly, I found the snottiness in the podcast really obnoxious. If you could tone down the unnecessary insults to your listeners/most everyone who is not you, and drop most of the swearing, there was some good advice in here. (I particularly like the general advice that many situations don't require incorporation at all.)

I'd also be careful suggesting that people create S-Corps and book most of their personal income from the corp as 'distributions' - sure it's possible to save on payroll tax, but it's a risky proposition unless you book a reasonable (i.e. around what someone else would pay you for the work) amount as wages.

camz8• 16 years ago

I honestly didn't mean to sound snotty or obnoxious, I just strongly disagree with people suggesting to others to pay exorbitant fees for incorporations when the information is freely provided.

But, I will definitely take your advice into consideration and try my best to adjust the pdocast to fit the audience.

stellar6782• 16 years ago

I hope the suggestion proves helpful. And nice to hear that you're looking out for people!

How are you picking this knowledge up yourself? Also, I may have missed this in the podcast but: when and why did you decide that incorporation was right for your business?

fookyong• 16 years ago

Phenomenally useful.

Contrary to one of the other posters here, I didn't find the tone obnoxious. I found it made for a more interesting podcast because the guy is obviously opinionated, but for a reason - he's knowledgable.

Keep it up, I say. You might even want to have a bit of fun branding the podcast - angrytaxaccountant.com could turn into something big!

camz8• 16 years ago

Thanks fookyong, haha I don't think that I've met an accountant that has been bitter and angry yet lol.

I'm definitely going to keep podcasting new content on a weekly basis as long as my schedule permits and I'm able to find content that's pertinent everyone here.

Hopefully, I can be of help to someone. Thanks, again!

rumpelstiltskin• 16 years ago

Any chance for a transcript?

camz8• 16 years ago

Sorry, I'd have to hire a virtual assistant in order to provide a transcript. I'd like to keep the content free, so I won't be providing transcripts unless someone is willing to volunteer their time or cover that cost. Thanks!

Natsu2• 16 years ago

You can use the one I posed above. It's not exactly a transcript, but you can post it on your website, edit it to suit you or just ignore it.

Edit: I just realized that I misspelled your name. I'd like to blame the spellchecker, but it might have been me. Sorry!

Natsu2• 16 years ago

It's way too long for an HN comment, so I put it here: http://pastebin.ca/2033868

This is more like a summary or a set of lecture notes than a proper transcript, but I thought it might be useful to someone else. Camz is free to make any use of this he wants to, including commercial use, given that I derived it from his talk.

I did a lot of editing and I hope this is easier to read. That includes getting rid of the swearing, which so many people complained about. I tried to stay true to the original, but I also rewrote a few parts for clarity, removed parts where he repeated himself and moved a few things around to better organize his ideas.

Also, in one part, he was talking about business plans and business models, and said one when he meant the other, so I corrected that.

Finally, I added some headings so you can find the part of the talk you want and see how the talk was organized.

Edit: Made a fixed version where I spell his name correctly (King -> Keng).

jscore• 16 years ago

Awesome podcast. I actually liked your delivery style although I'm probably in the minority. Reminds me of the "You suck at photoshop" tutorials on youtube.

cperciva2• 16 years ago

I found that the constant stream of "hell", "freaking", "dumbass", "crap" distracted from the content. I appreciate the sentiment behind them, but I'd hope you can find a way to make your points without such language.

(Side note: A lawyer once told me that he would "never use language on a website which he wouldn't use in court" -- I think this is probably a good guideline to follow.)

SkyMarshal• 16 years ago

Also, as far as expressiveness goes, swear words are pretty inarticulate, blunt instruments. There is almost always more accurate, effective language to express you sentiments.

adaml_623• 16 years ago

What is the offer mentioned in the item title. 'Offer HN'.

Sorry to be negative but I'm not sure a podcast counts as an offer.

Disclaimer: Haven't listened to the whole podcast. Not based in the US so not interested in US specific law knowledge.

camz8• 16 years ago

I'm offering help on incorporations, the podcast is just a way for people to have an idea of what the process is like and an understanding of why to incorporate.

Most people feel obligated to incorporate to have a "real business" when it's usually unnecessary. If you still have questions after listening to the podcast, I'm offer my help to answer those questions and to provide further guidance in the process.

Offer HN: Help on Incorporation

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