Advice to New Founders
Starting a business can feel like a roller coaster ride. Learning from the successes and failures of fellow entrepreneurs can help you cope with the highs and lows of business development. Here are a few helpful tips.
1. Take a “one day at a time” approach. The big picture can be overpowering in the early stages of a new business. Focusing on singular tasks and the smaller picture will help you stay encouraged as you confidently lay the bricks for down the road success.
2. Don’t be afraid of failure. Letting others know about the bumps in the road along the way has a humanizing effect. The ability to laugh about your missteps and required course corrections shows that you are confident about your future success.
3. Get help and be helpful. Enlist the help of other like-minded entrepreneurs that have the skills you need to grow your business. The incentive for these individuals is getting in on the ground level of a new endeavor. Business maturity dictates that you offer to help them with their endeavor in return for their support. Doing so can prove quite lucrative.
4. Ask for advice. Admit that you need guidance in certain areas. People enjoy giving advice and, although experiences differ, many think they have discovered the best of all best practices. Admitting that you do not know how to do something in the presence of an expert can inspire them to share their knowledge. Unless pertaining to a criminal act, shared knowledge of business “how-to’s” is rarely a bad thing.
The Human Capitalist Series P.1: The Basics
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The Human Capitalist Series P.2: Stock Options
Stock options are the most common form of equity incentive for early-stage startups. A stock option grants the option holder the right to purchase a specific number of shares of the company within a fixed period of time at a preset “exercise” price, generally following the satisfaction…
The Human Capitalist Series P.3: How Are Stock Options Taxed, and Which Are Better, Incentive Stock Options or Nonstatutory Stock Options?
The U.S. federal taxation of stock options for U.S. taxpayers depends on whether the options are classified as incentive stock options (ISOs) or nonstatutory stock options (NSOs). Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) ISOs may provide a tax advantage to the holder if (i) the optionee does not sell…