Dow Jones VentureSource is one of the most popular nationwide venture capital date reports in the United States. VentureSources published its latest data on the development of venture capital investments in the third quarter of 2009. Below are some overviews observed by VentureSource. With 616 venture deals and $5.1 billion invested, Q3 is a 6%…

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a September 10, 2009 ruling, held that an employer can be held liable for discriminatory hiring decisions made by its independent contractors. The case involved an independent contractor acting on behalf of the employer, telling the plaintiff that “they were looking for someone younger”.…

Clean Tech is generally considered to include multiple advanced technologies in four economic sectors: energy, waste, materials, and transportation. These technologies break down in categories such as energy generation and storage, water and wastewater, air and environment, etc. There is no clear-cut definition for a “Clean-Tech” Company, but as shown by its name, a clean-tech…

S-Corporations are corporations that elect to be treated as pass-through entities by the IRS. In order to qualify for S-Corporation status a corporation needs to satisfy several conditions, including the following: 1) all shareholders must be residents of the United States; 2) the corporation may only have one class of shareholders and may not have more than…

Whenever a corporation or limited liability company does business (i.e. enters contracts or agreements) in a state other than the state in which they are domiciled, they are required to do a foreign filing in that state. For example, if a business is incorporated in Delaware, but has an office and/or employees based in California,…

This can be a very complex question. If you are looking to grow the company and get outside investment, then you should probably form an entity in Delaware. If your entity will have real estate holdings Nevada might also be a good option. Otherwise, it might make the most sense to simply form the entity…

Can a part-time employee hold another job while working for you? Can he or she work for a direct competitor a year after he involuntarily leaves his employment? Does this change if he owns part of your business? What if the competitor is anywhere in the world instead of in the samecounty? Different states have…

In a pass-through (or flow-through) entity, the entity’s income and expenses “pass through” the entity and are treated as the income and expenses of its owners. LLCs and S-Corporations are pass-through entities. This differs from a C-Corpoartion (which is the default form of corporation) which is taxed a corporate income tax at the end of…

If your business only has a few investors and you do not anticipate receiving outside financing in the near future, an LLC is probably best for you because of its flexibility, simplicity, and pass-through taxation (see blog entry on pass-through taxation). However, if you want a board of directors that is distinct from the officers and/or…

A corporation is made up of three groups of people – the shareholders, the board of directors and the officers, although the same person can hold multiple positions. The board of directors is formally elected by the shareholders and represents their interests. It is the board of directors that hires the officers of the company,…