Starting a Business

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Yesterday I attended the Des Moines Business Record’s Power Breakfast series featuring an expert panel discussion on whether Central Iowans are too risk averse to start businesses. It was well attended and an excellent discussion on the topic, although the topic probably deserves more time and attention than is available in a breakfast. I applaud the Business Record…

With emerging companies I am often asked about equity and stock options for employees. That process is often complicated and costly. Usually the reason I hear favoring the equity / options approach is that employers want their employees to "feel like they are a part of something." An admirable goal ineed but are equity /options necessary to…

Our new startup company, Notifyworks, Inc. has officially launched its Web site today. You can check it out at www.notifyworks.com. The site also contains a blog which will cover client relations and legal technology issues.

Notifyworks is a software system that allow you to set up proactive notifications to clients that are timed to automatically…

Once a mainstay of this blog, I have not written about employment law for quite some time. Since my franchise law practice has grown over the past few years, I’ve left it to Matt Brick from Brick Gentry to handle employment law issues in the office.  On the blogging side there are many great employment law blogs…

This blog post from the Minnesota Business and Real Estate Blog discussing the Fallacy that LLCs require less paperwork is spot on.

Many people come to my office wanting to set up an LLC because it is easier to "manage" than a corporation. But even with an LLC, it is important to follow corporate formalities…

Earlier this week I applied for a charge card for my new business. As a part of the application, I was informed that I would need to personally guarantee charges, not only for my card, but also the cards of any other people under the account. Fortunately, this did not come as a surprise because I had…

For the past 17 years, I have been advising businesses of all shapes and sizes, whether small or large. I have always loved working with startups. It is exciting to hear the stories of these entrepreneurs and how they could solve a problem or discovered a new way of doing business.

Now I am leaping into that startup…

If you are currently starting a business or thinking about starting one, I suggest you read a couple of articles via the Des Moines Register business section.

Five Things You Should Know About Raising For Your Startup with advice from Mike Colwell. Mike is the executive director of the Business Innovation Zone and a terrific…

A guest post from Dwolla founder Ben Milne on the Silicon Prairie News site says what I have been saying on the legal side for years: Iowa is a great place to start a business (and incorporate).

It’s fantastic to see companies like Dwolla enjoying success and creating considerable buzz. I’ve long thought that…