I don't have time to look at the details of this particular incentive, but I know from personal experience that many R&D tax credits do not require earth-shaking research to qualify.
I own two SaaS companies that have received R&D credits and I'm also an investor in a few other businesses, including an injection molding company, that have received R&D tax credits. The injection molding company mostly makes cups for gas stations. Which is not exactly quantum computing.
I used the same company to get all of the credits. They had a staff of tax attorneys, accountants, engineers, etc. that worked with us to see what we could qualify to receive. They looked at about 30 different programs to get tax incentives or reduce expenses. And they worked entirely on a contingency basis, where we only paid them a percentage of what we saved. They were very accurate in their initial assessments, and we have not been audited since receiving the incentives (/knock on wood/)
At one point, they commented that the bane of their existence (as tax incentive specialists) was misinformed accountants that thought you had to have an army of lab coats or a clean room in order to qualify.
I would agree, however, that Gusto is trying to drum up business.
- A single LLC is probably optimal for what you are suggesting, unless one or more of the projects you will be pursuing is something that invites litigation. You would definitely want to have a separate LLC for anything that is extremely risky or that is in a litigious industry (healthcare, etc.) If your first app is just "slightly profitable", I wouldn't worry about it that much. If you add other memmbers/managers in the future you can always restructure the ownership and compensation ratios, etc. - LLCs are amazingly flexible.
- I've used series LLCs several times (in IL and DE), and it was very helpful in a couple of cases and a complete clusterfuck in another. Find a great lawyer if you opt to go that route. You DEFINITELY have to use separate bank accounts and ledgers for every series if you want to get any of the advantages of the Series LLC structure. Just trying to open Series-specific bank accounts can be an issue, surprisingly. I would only use a Series LLC again for VERY specific purposes (mutual fund companies, etc.)
<IANAL_just_paranoid>I recommended a separate entity because of the contract coding. Protection from copyright claims with contractors is only as good as one's attorney, and therefore any contract coding potentially exposes the other enterprises within a settlement. The perfect example would be reuse of elements developed under contract for one endeavor being reused on another project which took off. </IANAL_just_paranoid>
I hate St. Louis...I think I have bad memory associations with it because we had to go there to the Children's Hospital for my sister. It is also the only place I have ever been mugged - twice! - despite having frequently traveled to much more dangerous places. The second mugger even took my clothing at gunpoint. And the muggings occurred within 80 feet of the St. Louis Arch and several cops. Don't go near the Arch around dusk. The Arch seems like a safe place, but it is on the periphery of a more dangerous area.
Not working...leaving for my first vacation in 11 years. (The vacation is being shoehorned around a business trip my wife has to take. Otherwise, it would have been at least 12 years between our vacations...)
I tried several of the open-source wiki apps, and then was very happy to pay for VoodooPad. I use it and mindmapping apps quite a bit. I bought a notebook app from Circus Ponies, but I don't open it very often. I use DevonThink Pro Office extensively, and it saves me enormous amounts of time. I also use Emacs orgmode and a few other Mac apps that are probably overkill for most people.
Assuming Evite got a registered trademark on their name, then they should be able to stop you from doing anything using your domain in their trademark class(s) in the US. Presumably, your project is related to event listings/invites? They can probably stop you from using that domain in the US...or any other countries they have registered it in, for that matter. (Even if they didn't register the trademark, which is unlikely, they have been using it in interstate commerce for quite some time while you have not, so they would almost surely win in court or in an ICANN dispute.)
I think it's a weak domain/name that is likely to be confused with them anyway...I'd find another name to save the headaches and let them have it. You might ask them to reimburse you for your actual domain registration and renewal fees. If it is <$1000 they might pay, because it takes about $1000-1200 to seize a domain anyway.
Don't buy it if your only reason for doing so is 'buzz.'
Have you considered trying out a "Hackintosh"-type setup first? If that doesn't work for you, you could still sell the PC easily and then buy a Mac. I make very good money in the US, and I still took several weeks to talk myself into buying a new Macbook Pro to replace an '05 Powerbook (in part because I already have a 27" iMac as my main computer.) Apples are expensive. To me, it is the software that makes them a great value, though. If you bought the MBP, would you still have the funds to spend on software and to complete your freelance/startup work without major sacrifices? I think it is ridiculous to ask a question like this on HN since we don't really know your financial circumstances. Are you really just wanting us to help rationalize a decision you've already made? ;-)
[And now...my first HN cross-post ever:]
RE: Fusion vs. Parallels
I just bought a new MB Pro and am getting ready to install Parallels on it for the first time. I've always used Fusion on my Macs (to triple-boot with Win and Linux) in the past. I thought Parallels was currently the leader in the shootouts regarding speed/features? Anyone keep up to date with their VM horse race or have a good reason to use one over the other? I already have licenses for both. Thanks.
I just bought a new MB Pro and was getting ready to install Parallels on it for the first time...I've always used Fusion in the past. I thought Parallels was currently the leader in the shootouts regarding speed/features? Anyone keep up to date with their horse race or have a good reason to use one over the other? I already have licenses for both.
I own two SaaS companies that have received R&D credits and I'm also an investor in a few other businesses, including an injection molding company, that have received R&D tax credits. The injection molding company mostly makes cups for gas stations. Which is not exactly quantum computing.
I used the same company to get all of the credits. They had a staff of tax attorneys, accountants, engineers, etc. that worked with us to see what we could qualify to receive. They looked at about 30 different programs to get tax incentives or reduce expenses. And they worked entirely on a contingency basis, where we only paid them a percentage of what we saved. They were very accurate in their initial assessments, and we have not been audited since receiving the incentives (/knock on wood/)
At one point, they commented that the bane of their existence (as tax incentive specialists) was misinformed accountants that thought you had to have an army of lab coats or a clean room in order to qualify.
I would agree, however, that Gusto is trying to drum up business.