How Tariffs Reach A Small Company's Margins, Even If It Never Imports
Duties are paid at the border by the importer of record, but the cost travels down the supply chain to businesses that have never filed a customs entry.
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What It Really Costs To Get Your Product Onto A Retailer's Shelf
The wholesale price is only the start. Slotting, promotions, chargebacks, payment terms and returns decide whether a big retail account makes you money.
The FTC Shipping Rule Every Online Store Is Already Bound By
If you sell physical goods online, a federal rule governs your shipping promises, your delay notices and how fast you refund. Most founders have never read it.
How Influencer Deals Work, And What The FTC Expects You To Disclose
Paying creators to talk about your product is an advertising deal with legal strings attached. Here is how to structure one and keep the disclosure right.
CPM, CPC, CPA: How Advertising Is Actually Priced, And Who Carries The Risk
Every advertising pricing model is a bargain about who bears the risk that an ad does not work. Knowing which one you are signing changes how you buy.
The Commercial Lease Clauses That Cost Startups The Most Money
The rent figure gets negotiated. The clauses that decide the real cost, from operating expenses to personal guarantees, often do not. Read these first.
Sublease, Coworking Or Your Own Lease: How Startups Should Choose Space
Each option trades flexibility for cost and control. The right answer depends on your headcount forecast, your runway and how certain you are about both.
Why Profitable Small Businesses Still Run Out Of Cash
Profit is an accounting result. Cash is what pays the bills. The gap between them is a timing problem, and timing problems can be measured and managed.
How To Buy An Existing Small Business Without Buying Its Problems
Acquiring a running business can be faster than starting one. The diligence questions below separate a solid company from a seller's well-presented exit.
SAFE Or Convertible Note: What You Are Actually Agreeing To
Both instruments postpone the valuation argument, but they treat time, debt and dilution very differently. How each one works and the clauses to read twice.
What Actually Happens At Your First Priced Round, Step By Step
From the term sheet to the wire, a priced round converts old instruments, resizes the option pool and rewrites your charter. Here is the sequence and the traps.
How A Venture Capital Fund Works, And Why It Changes Who It Backs
Fees, carry, fund life and the math of returning a fund explain most investor behavior that founders find puzzling. A plain guide to the machine behind the check.
The Term Sheet Clauses That Matter More Than Your Valuation
Liquidation preferences, anti-dilution, board seats and protective provisions decide who gets paid and who decides. What each clause does, and what diligence follows.
The Cash Math Every Bootstrapped Founder Should Run Every Month
Without investors, cash timing is the business. The numbers to track, the money that only looks like yours and the levers that buy months of runway.
How Bootstrapped Founders Pay Themselves Without Starving The Company
Owner draws, payroll salaries and the S corporation reasonable-compensation rule work very differently. How each works and how to avoid a surprise tax bill.
How To Price An Accelerator Offer Before You Give Up Equity
An accelerator deal is a financing with a valuation hidden inside it. How to calculate what you are really paying and the questions to ask before you sign.
Accelerator, Incubator, Studio Or Corporate Program: Who Wants What
Early-stage programs look alike from the outside but want very different things from founders. How each model makes money and the terms that reveal it.
Acqui-Hire Or Acquisition: Who Actually Gets Paid When You Sell
How deal structure, the preference stack and retention packages decide where sale proceeds go, and why an acqui-hire can leave common holders with little.
How Founder Secondary Sales Work, And Why The Company Gets A Say
Selling some of your shares before an exit is possible, but transfer restrictions, approval rights, valuation knock-on effects and tax rules shape every deal.
Before You Build A Startup On The Side, Reread Your Employment Agreement
The invention assignment clause you signed on your first day may decide who owns your side project. Here is what to look for and how to protect yourself.
How To Pick A Company Name You Can Actually Own And Protect
A state filing, a domain and a trademark are three different things. Founders who confuse them often end up renaming the business after they have built a brand.
The Monthly Investor Update That Gets Read, And Gets Answered
A plain, consistent update is one of the cheapest tools a founder has. Here is a structure that builds trust and turns passive investors into useful ones.
How Founders Should Run A Board Meeting That Actually Decides Things
A good startup board meeting is built in the week before it happens. The pre-read, the agenda, the minutes and the closed session all have jobs to do.
The Solo Founder's Continuity File: What Happens If You Can't Work Tomorrow
When one person holds every password, signature and relationship, a single illness can stop the business. A continuity file keeps it running without you.