Here's another one for the small-ish entrepreneurial set, because not everyone is going to be able to attract big VC funding. Don't mix your businesses. As a b

Here's another one for the small-ish entrepreneurial set, because not everyone is going to be able to attract big VC funding. Don't mix your businesses. As a busy entrepreneur, it's tempting to do work from a "past life" and bill it through your shiny new company. Don't do it. Just don't. One of my companies is currently involved in a lawsuit because of an agreement that one of my partners signed, of which I had no knowledge. You take on enough risk in the normal course of business while focusing on your core business. If something is worth doing, it's worth having a company dedicated to doing it. In large part, the function of a corporation is to compartmentalize your business and isolate risk. Take advantage of that fact wherever possible. Having learned our lesson, we've even gone a step further and isolated our core IP holding corporation from our operating/sales companies. "If I knew then what I know now" I wouldn't be in this mess.