Just in Case it Matters to You
Weekly Report 16-38
- BUSINESS START-UPS VERY OFTEN MAKE MISTAKES WHICH CAN LEAD TO PREMATURE DEMISE: (1) Running afoul of employment agreements with current employers while working on the startup concept, risking intellectual property disputes without even capital to defend themselves; (2) Waiting too long to engage professional advisors & attorneys; building a company by bootstrapping to conserve cash and retain equity becomes self-defeating when cost and delay of ‘cleanup’ “can potentially scuttle fundraising or an acquisition”; (3) Avoiding hard conversations among founders about “fundamental issues” such as how to split equity, vesting, operational roles and expectations of one another; (4) Overcomplicating arrangements by attempting to “optimize formation, employment & financing documents by planning for every conceivable scenario”; (5) Violating employment laws that can easily create serious legal & taxation issues which can have “a chilling effect on prospective investors or acquirers”; (6) Compensating work with equity shares which can cause horrendous income tax consequences. DCG provides pro-bono consultation to help next-generation businesses avoid these pitfalls. [LEGALTECH NEWS.COM – Sep 16]
- “TATTOOING HAS BECOME MAINSTREAM”; three in ten Americans now have at least one tattoo – over a third of Gen Xers and nearly half of millennials. But concern is growing over side-effects as the FDA (which technically regulates inks as cosmetic products) has received hundreds of complaints reporting “reactions including itching, scarring or inflamed skin even years after getting inked… and researchers have discovered potentially hazardous substances like mercury & charcoal in some tattoo dyes… and pigments of industrial grade colors suitable for printers ink or automobile paint.” Good news is that the trend “may be at a tipping point, as young people are consciously deciding to remain untattooed, either to be rebellious – since tattoos are no longer a mark of rebellion – or to avoid being deemed a fashion victim.” [BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK – Sep 12, 16]
- “DEATH OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS THE ONLY POSITIVE THING TO HAPPEN DURING THIS ELECTION. With their insufferable propaganda” and biased journalists who, when facts or opinions don’t support their personal (primarily progressive-left) agenda, “have taken it upon themselves to shout down questions & controversialize those asking … these organs have destroyed this country by keeping the people uninformed for decades… With their positions of power and influence, mainstream media do not want to rock the boat, like things the way they are, and will fight hard to keep them that way.” Reporting that Washington is dysfunctional and can’t get anything done is propaganda. “When it comes to corruption and serving big-monied interests, both Congress and the Administration are very good at getting things done – just not on behalf of the people. Government doesn’t work for the people.” [ZEROHEDGE.COM – Sep 13, 16]
- DCG GENERALLY AVOIDS TAKING SIDES IN POLITICAL ISSUES OF ANY KIND. BUT, California Prop 57 – the deceptively-titled ‘Public Safety & Rehabilitation Act’ – proposed by Gov. Brown is ridiculous and dangerous. The Prop calls for ‘early release’ of up to 25,000 prison inmates serving time for “nonviolent” crimes, and giving authority to unelected Parole Boards and Criminal Justice workers to overcall judicial process. However, “nonviolent” is not defined in Statutes or the Prop, which instead defines 23 specific “violent” crimes to which this would not apply. What it leaves out, and thus allows for early release, are crimes including: burglaries, assault with a deadly weapon, rape, human trafficking involving sex with a minor, drive-by shooting, taking a hostage, bomb or weapon of mass destruction possession, school grounds gun-shooting, manslaughter, and numerous other ‘victimless’ crimes. Additionally, the measure allows ‘time off for good behavior, for any state prison inmate – including 1st degree murderers. WHAT are they thinking? Maybe just following the leader; President Obama had so far commuted the sentences of 673 prisoners thru 8/31, more than the previous 10 Presidents combined.
- P.C. PUSHES ON: (1) U.C.Berkeley now sets aside “special housing for students of color,” and Cal State LA offers a Black Living Community so students can “avoid racially insensitive remarks and other micro-aggressions”; (2) Kent State U. now has an entirely gluten-free campus cafeteria “because officials didn’t want students with celiac disease to feel singled-out”; (3) An Indiana school district is eliminating the Valedictorian award because it “promotes unhealthy competition among students.” [THE WEEK – Sep 16,16]
- THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: “I’m so thankful I had a childhood before technology took over…”
Want a reality check on the Border Crisis? 9 out of 10 still illegally crossing just say “Obama said it’s okay to come,” get “welcomed” by Border Patrol & released in San Diego. http://www.kusi.com/Clip/12667034/special-report-border-crisis-reality-check#.V7zWGHVf40J.facebook
Incomprehensible magic tricks are back in fashion: http://biggeekdad.com/2016/09/the-illusionists-card-trick/ and https://youtu.be/hpkByIpaKkU