牛骨文教育服务平台(让学习变的简单)

专家的价值

第十七课里的第一部分,听着很无聊,一个律师啰里啰嗦地告诉你法律方面的事情必须听专家的。然后举了几个听着怎么都觉得其实“你不说我早晚也会知道的事实”来吓唬人:

... The bill right now is at five hundred thousand dollars for a conversion mistake.

结论就是,因为之前的律师混蛋,竟然没把公司注册在 Delaware,最终得多浪费几十万美元……

(莆田系的销售套路,其实全世界都在用的:病很重,能治,得花钱……)

话说回来,这就是获取信息的重要原则:一定要从高质量的源获取信息。 或者反过来说,为了能获得重要信息,平日里要想尽一切办法高度关注高质量信息源。YC的这套创业课,就是高质量信息源,于是,未曾预料到地,我们知道了在美国创业办公室的话,最好去 Delaware ——就这么简单。

Why Corporations Choose Delaware

很多所谓的专家,其实是“砖家”,整天胡说八道。又因为“欺世盗名”的收益率是很高的——毕竟分母几近于零——所以,你懂的。

"Expert" advices, tips, or strategies are completely irrelevant unless they"re provided in the context of how they"ll work for you and your goals. Unless said expert has a clear understanding of you, what you"re trying to create, and whoelse is involved. Period. End of discussion.

这段话并不是第十七课里的内容,但却是平日里我们对专家们的普遍正确态度。

值得一提的,并且在这节课里也重点提到的是,绝大多数投资者并不是专家,他们甚至不是投资领域里的专家,更不用提创业领域了。

Few people actually give good advice.

更可怕的是,喜欢指手画脚的“砖家”常常是真诚的,他们真不知道自己的能力范围,而后通常是真心实意的——出发点仅仅来自于“自己真的已经把钱投资给你,所以我要帮你,这也是在帮我自己……”——选择投资者非常重要。

对货真价实的专家,我们是充满敬佩的,甚至应当敬畏——因为我们知道知识的获得、经验的提炼、智慧的总结都没有捷径,都只能靠一点一滴地积累。

对创业者来说,有两个领域必须依赖真正的专家,法务和财务。从这一点上看,YC 确实很牛,他们直接投资的公司里,Clerky 是帮助创业公司处理法务的,ZenPayroll 是帮助创业公司处理财务的——这是很完善的创业投资战略。

法务和财务,都是相对环境成熟的领域,是不是专家,只要看对方的历史纪录就好——相对来看还确实是比较容易判断的——战略咨询之类的就不那么容易判断。

找法务专家的方法很简单:直接去找。通过熟人并不会降低服务费用,也不会得到额外的服务——对法务工作人员来说,他们的时间是有限的,工作是没有办法规模化的(顶多尽量),所以,一切都很简单——前提只有一个,敬业就好。而公司内部的财务,最好是熟人或熟人介绍——因为信任是最重要的。

后面的内容里,还提到创始人最好签署一个叫“83(b) Election”的文件。中美法律不同,但有个了解也好:

83(b) Election Form

Many founders wish to make an 83(b) election in order to preserve possible future taxation benefits. A Section 83(b) election is an election to include in income the value of property which is subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, such as a Company repurchase right in the purchase agreement, which repurchase right lapses over time as a founder provides services to the Company. Because the stock is subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, the founder does not have to pay tax on his receipt of the stock until it vests. Often a founder may make a Section 83(b) election to pay tax on the value of the stock today because its value is lower than it is expected to be when it the repurchase right lapses, or because the founder paid full value for it at the time of purchase so the Section 83(b) election incurs no additional current tax. The making of the Section 83(b) election also starts the founder’s capital gains holding period. Access additional information about making the election.

http://www.orrick.com/Events-and-Publications/Documents/1955.pdf 
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2008-title26-vol2/xml/CFR-2008-title26-vol2-sec1-83-2.xml