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What is a C Corp?

“C corporation” or “C corp” stands for “corporation.” The “C” comes from the fact that C corp income is taxed under the subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code. That’s the law that responsible for the double taxation that C corps are known for, which we’ll go into more below. C corps are the most common type of corporation in the United States, but they may or may not be the best options for your startup!

Corporations are a business entities that exist entirely separately from their owners. They can be taxed, make a profit, and be held liable. In fact, they offer the highest level of protection from personal liability for the owners.

When it comes to stock, C corps can issue stock and shareholders can sell their stock a...

“You didn’t ask.” Of all the things a business should hope to never hear the customer say, this has to rank near the top. Because it is so easily avoidable. Because the fault for never asking falls entirely on your shoulders. There are even automated tools to help you learn more about what your customer is thinking – to ask without asking!

UserCompass automatically sends NPS (net promoter score) surveys so you can know what your customers really think of you and so you can track their loyalty over time.

Currently, UserCompass surveys your Stripe customers. All you have to do is connect your Stripe account. Then UserCompass will automatically send NPS surveys and give you their feedback.

The service strategically waits three days from the t...

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of a startup name — which is why naming a business can feel so harrowing. A great name can help push your company to the next level, but a terrible one can sink you before you even started. So how do you find a great business name?

While there probably are as many approaches to coming up with a company name as there are failed startups, one great place to start is with idea generators. These quick, handy online tools spit out word combinations that can be a great jumping off point for you and your team.

Once you’ve found a company name you like, you can use the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to find out whether or not a business name has been trademarked. You should also use ICANN WHOIS to...

Founders are rarely prepared for how to handle a legit crisis, like when the whole world turns upside down overnight.

I lived through 9/11 with 700 employees, raised multiple funding rounds in the middle of the 2007 Financial Crisis, and just for "funsies" oversaw the overnight shutdown of a startup with 450 people.

So yeah, I have some experience here.

What I've learned is when crisis hits, a solid approach to communication is one of the single most effective tools we can employ.

Cut the Bullshit

In times of crisis, no one wants to hear the sugar-coated version of where things stand.

"Hey Team, I know half of you have turned into flesh-eating Zombies, but the good news is there's way more La Croix for those of you who have survived!"

No...

Slack is a great work tool for communication. Teams love being able to easily send messages to one another in real time and keeping conversations organized by channels. For speed, convenience and simplicity, Slack rocks.

Is there a downside to being able to connect so efficiently?

Well, employees and managers do grow accustomed to living with one another in their back pockets. When it comes time to have a more serious conversation, it’s not always obvious that more than the typical quick question/brief exchange is being called for. Setting up different channels for different kinds of conversation is one way to make the distinction, but there’s no guarantee that’s how they’ll actually be used.

Is there a better way to signal when the stakes ...

Startups feel like sprints in the beginning, but for any of us who have done this before, we've learned that it's a marathon.

We're judged by our speed when we start — and our endurance when, and if, we finish.

When Does "Pacing" Ourselves Start to Matter?

Not in the beginning. In the beginning, it's full sprint all the time — or at least that's the way it feels. We've got a headful of energy and we're ready to tackle every problem with longer nights and more stress.

But it doesn't take more than a year or two before those late nights and sustained stress start to run us down. Getting fired up over every last problem, and the stress that comes with it, begins to burn our cortisol levels to a dangerously low point.

At that point, the spr...

Everyone knows brand building is an essential component of building a company. “That’s not on brand,” you hear people say. Or: “This is going to be great for our brand.”

There’s brand essence, brand style, brand ambassadors, brand story…. But, when it comes to defining what a brand is – let alone how you build one – things start to get a little murky.

What is a brand?

Part of that stems from a confusion between two similar, related, yet distinct terms: branding and brand.

Your company’s “branding” refers to the collection of visual and verbal assets associated with your company. That includes things like your logo, color scheme, messaging platform. These are the cues that signal to customers that they’re interacting with your company.

Your...

Have you settled on a logo for your startup yet? That decision seems like a small one — a quick thing to simply check off the to-do list! — but it’s actually a pretty big undertaking. Startup logos, while often tiny, can make a huge impact on the success or failure of your company. That one tiny little image will be used everywhere — from iPhone tiles to your letterhead to packaging for physical products to swag. With that much real estate, a bad logo can do some serious damage.

But, how do you know what a bad startup logo looks like? Surely logo design is at least a little bit subjective! Perhaps, like the famous Supreme Court justice quote about pornography, you know it when you see it. However, even within the spectrum of subjectivity, t...

Sara Blakely, the founder of SPANX, joined social media 5 weeks ago (Instagram to be more exact) and at the MA Conference for Women in the span of 10 minutes, she gained 2K new followers.

Wait…what? Can I do this too!? Here’s my breakdown of how she did it through the influence of public speaking and tips on how you can move the crowd to build your tribe.

On Thursday, December 8th, I’ve had the honor to be one of the few males to attend and speak at the nation’s largest conference for women, the Massachusetts Conference for Women (Yes, it was fun if you were wondering and the wifey had no objections because it was a conference. Win-win!).

In front of a sold-out audience of 11,000, Sara Blakely was interviewed by Gayle King (Co-host of CBS ...

When I was just starting my startup career and had a little bit of success, I got the best advice ever from a friend of mine whose family had started a $50 billion company. He said:

"Never tell anyone how much money you have. Only two things will happen — they will either try to take it from you or size you up by it — either way, you lose."

I give that advice to every newly minted exited Founder I meet, and at this point, I've given that advice so many times I figured it was worth a detailed explanation. It actually doesn't matter how much you have (or don't have), the advice is just as valuable.

The Money Matters

Like it or not, we are judged by our money. If we have it, people judge us because they don't have it, and if we don't have it, ...