News
My Business Was Hit with a Class Action! | Sponsored
You may think that class action litigation is the legal problem of large companies, but even small mom-and-pop businesses can become targets for this type of litigation. The concerns could be wage related or accessibility oriented, or any number of other issues. So what can you do to defend against these claims? Defendants facing class…
Legal Briefs: Corporate Responsibility | Sponsored
On September 13, 1970, The New York Times published an op-ed by University of Chicago Professor Milton Friedman that provided the intellectual framework for a profound shift in American corporate governance. The article, The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits, argued in forceful terms that corporate executives are mere agents working exclusively…
Transition Time: Five ways to improve your startup exit strategy | Sponsored
Startup entrepreneurs are right to focus their time and energy on creating the great products and services that will build a company to its best exit point, whether its an initial public offering (IPO) or a strategic acquisition. However, they should also understand how operational matters can affect a companys attractiveness to buyers, public or…
Legal Briefs: The JOBS Act | Sponsored
For most companies, making a public offering of their shares is nearly impossible. Historically, this has been the case because the costs and challenges of going public, let alone being public, significantly outweighed the potential benefits for all but the largest companies. Now, however, that tide seems to be starting to turn. In 2012, Congress…
Fair Game: Why you need a transfer pricing policy now | Sponsored
With increasing globalization, even small businesses and startups can have a worldwide footprint. This is especially true in technology, where intellectual property is the heart of the business and can easily and unknowingly be exchanged among the companys related entities in foreign jurisdictions. As governments worldwide work to increase their tax bases and, more important,…
Hidden Risk for Nonprofit Board Members | Sponsored
California Attorney General sued directors and officers of Monterey County AIDS Project. … Settlement created $1M fund plus barred 16 former officers and directors from serving as a fiduciary of any California charity for at least 5 years. From the Office of the Attorney General, State of California Unfortunately, the above headline is becoming far…
Perspectives from PwC: We Are Living in Extraordinary Times | Sponsored
For the first time in five years in PwCs Annual Global CEO Survey, more business leaders rate the U.S. as their most important market for overseas growth ahead of all others, including Chinas. As the U.S. recovery gains traction, it is gaining more adherents. Challenges remain, yet key measures of U.S. economic health are improving….
Legal Briefs: The Cost of Badly Done Performance Reviews | Sponsored
For many companies, employee performance reviews are often an afterthought. A recent survey showed that only 10 percent of employers actually found their current performance review process a good use of time. Many businesses just go through the motions each year wheeling out the performance review form and rating employees by checking the box on…
$10 Million Women: The Next Level
When Lisa Hufford quit her executive sales job at Microsoft in 2006 to become a consultant, she had modest ambitions. She wanted the flexibility to travel less and spend more time with her children. Still, her new company, Simplicity Consulting, pulled in $300,000 in sales in its first year. Other women who saw her success…
$15.5 million spent so far on Initiative 1183
Initiative 1183, the latest effort to terminate state-run liquor stores and wholesaling operations, had attracted more than $15.5 million in contributions from both sides of the issue as of early October, according to Public Disclosure Commission reports.. Support and opposition comes from businesses and associations that often cooperated in the past on alcohol beverage issues….
‘Top Innovator’ wins MacArthur ‘Genius Award’
University of Washington computer science professorShwetak Patel, recognized as a Top Innovator in the November2010 issue of Seattle Business, has been named a 2011 MacArthurFellow, an honor that brings with it a $500,000, no-strings-attached GeniusAward. Patel, also a 2011 MicrosoftResearch Faculty Fellow, has invented computer devices and programs touse existing home utility infrastructure, such as…
‘LOL’ The Way to the Bank
Heres an idea: Grab a funny picture of a cat off the web. Imagine what the cat might say if it could talk (complete with bad grammar and spelling) and add it as a caption. Then wait for the hits to come rolling in. Not many people would envision such a concept. But then again,…