

Offer HN:  Help on Incorporation - camz
http://cameronkeng.com/podcast-ep-1-incorporation/

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cperciva
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.)

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SkyMarshal
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.

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stellar678
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.

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camz
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.

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stellar678
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?

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camz
Well the technical knowledge comes from my years of experience as a
professional tax accountant.

The decision making behind the business came from the fact that I wasn't
willing to spend more than my business would generate. So, I was always re-
evaluating expenses to make sure that they were directly contributing to the
bottom line.

Incorporation is not a factor thats vital until you're generating significant
revenues because it's always going to increase your costs.

As a personal note, I invested $500 dollars into a business initially and
waited until I was making over $30,000 in net profits until I even considered
incorporating because my profits would increase by incorporating with the
proper tax planning.

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bherms
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 :)

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camz
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.

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fookyong
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!

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camz
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!

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adaml_623
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.

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camz
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.

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619Cloud
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.

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camz
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!

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619Cloud
Makes sense. Any idea ballpark what a trademark of a company name would cost
in California?

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camz
Honestly, off the top of my head I have no idea. I've registered a few
trademarks but its been a while so I need to refresh my memory and do some due
diligence before I give you any numbers or facts. Sorry, but I'll definitely
write a post and record a podcast that will go over the highlights and
specifics.

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jscore
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.

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rumpelstiltskin
Any chance for a transcript?

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camz
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!

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Natsu
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!

