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How Entrepreneurs Can Profit with Obama

21 points by stanley 18y ago

hugh 18y ago
Wow. Despite the title, that's pretty much all doom-and-gloom. Alternative possibility: move to another country. New Zealand, frinstance, has just elected a new business-friendly government, it has lots of smart, well-educated people and a low cost of living.
- DTrejo 18y ago
  shhh, New Zealand is a secret!
- ibsulon 18y ago
  Business friendly in New Zealand would be considered downright hostile in the US.
  - jonas_b 18y ago
    Is that for fact true? I would very much like to believe it since I've spent some time i NZ and found it to be very hospitable to companies in some respects. That would mean that the US kick ass (Im considering relocating to the US btw).
python-nut 18y ago
so how do I shift profits overseas?
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- sebastian 18y ago
  any thoughts on this?
- markessien 18y ago
  Don't be silly. If you are going to be making $300.000 in profits anytime soon, you will have enough money to hire a tax adviser who will tell you how to hide this money.
  - helveticaman 18y ago
    You won't be able to hide all of it that easily.
hooande 18y ago
Mixed thoughts on this article. The author raised some points that I thought were good, namely the fact that you don't need to be a direct beneficiary of the new administration's proposed programs to profit from them. If they plan to put money into green tech or education, perhaps you could make money by providing a service to those industries. If after school care centers are about to become flush with government cash, perhaps they'll need some kind of software to help them grow. The downside to this article is that most of it is based what the Obama administrated has stated it ~wants~ to do. You'd be foolish to actually plan a business around campaign promises. But these are definitely some things to keep in mind.
pg 18y ago
Businesses generally perhaps, but not startups. I wouldn't advise the average startup to modify their strategy based on what administration is in power.
- unalone 18y ago
  I think it's useful advice for people who are just starting up now, though. If you want to be an entrepreneur but don't know what field to start in, playing along the lines of what the new administration is looking for means that you're opening in a field that everybody will be watching.
  - pg 18y ago
    I don't think so. A better and completely orthogonal compass is to try to see one's position on the pretty much inevitable path of technological development. Woz was much better off thinking "What can I do now that DRAMs have been invented?" than "What can I do now that Carter has been elected?"
    - unalone 18y ago
      Okay, I see where you're coming from.
  - vaksel 18y ago
    if you have the choice of what to start in...but how many people have that? Am I going to suddenly start a wind farm company just because Obama will invest money into them? Its not like the small time entrepreneurs have a lot of hope getting government contracts. Most of that money will go to the established players in those industries who can afford to pay lobbyists
  - jumper 18y ago
    I suspect that most people who go for whatever field is apparently "hot" wind up not doing very well. I would imagine those who get into fields because they're just following what they know\have interest in have much better chances. They have a hope of finding and building something so cool it makes the new "hot" field. Course, that was a huge generalization with tons of assumptions, so YMMV.
krschultz 18y ago
How Entrepreneurs Can Profit with Obama: As consumer confidence in our government increases (as it always does in a new administration's honeymoon period), and as the policies of the current and future stimulus packages take effect, the economy will inevitably improve. Despite the tax issues, if you thought John McCain's federal government spending freeze was a good idea during a recession, you don't know much about economics. An improved economy means more funding and more customers. Forget the details, it is hard to make ANY money when the stock market is going down 40% in a few months and people are saving every penny because they are scared.
nihilocrat 18y ago
A lot of this points out why I just don't understand "right-leaning" folk. Unless you are a huge, faceless corporation you really shouldn't be paying your workers minimum wage or giving them crappy health benefits, so I don't see how your expenses in those areas are going to increase or that "It's going to be good times for workers. Not such great times for employers." Oh no, you might have to start treating them slightly more like human beings! A lot of this advice is just that "smart people will find loopholes in the new tax codes and avoid paying it like they have been for decades", bordering on tax fraud. He indirectly admits he makes over $250,000 a year, and I hate to voice a knee-jerk reaction, but he should really be counting his blessings he's not been on the short end of the stick (living paycheck-to-paycheck working said minimum wage jobs, for example). Instead, he gets spooked that he might have to give more of his precious precious money away.
- jpcx01 18y ago
  Your comment points out why I don't understand "left-leaning" folk. Mentioning he makes over $250,000 doesn't need to be "admitted". He should be proud of it. It's not that his money is precious, it's a direct result of his contribution to the economy. And the money isn't whats important, the work that produced that money is what's important. Whenever someone in the country works hard and produces something, it benefits every person in the US, including you and me. However when we decide that the only important thing is that he made more money then us, then people like him will decide to either produce less (it's not hard if you are already well off to take a well earned vacation), or just produce more overseas to avoid our confiscation attempts.
  - rw 18y ago
    Whenever someone in the country works hard and produces something, it benefits every person in the US, including you and me. So now we have trickle down, trickle across, and trickle up?
- frisco 18y ago
  > Oh no, you might have to start treating them slightly more like human beings! I don't think many startups are guilty of this. But even so, could you imagine what it would do to the startup community if you required every company regardless of size to offer its employees health insurance? I don't think that Palo Alto would end up looking anything like it does now. There are risks involved in launching a startup the first few years. Everyone knows this. But, with the risks come proportionate rewards, which brings us to: > Instead, he gets spooked that he might have to give more of his precious precious money away. You have it backwards. It's been said a lot recently that the "hard working middle class middle americans" are the foundation of our country; actually, the entrepreneurs and business leaders who end up making tons of money are the foundation of our country. Without them, no one else would have jobs. You can offer as much welfare or unemployment benefits as you want, but the people you really need happy are the founders of the world. If you make it totally unprofitable or fail to recognize the risks inherent in going out on a limb with no safety net to offer a service to others, we'll either stop (well, slow down or find a new model to do it) or move elsewhere.
auston 18y ago
My question: Are "Capital gains rates" different from "capital gains taxes"? Because he says: "Capital gains rates will go up, too." - http://awurl.com/GC4ypKrSY#first_awesome_highlight http://awurl.com/GC4ypKrSY#first_awesome_highlight and then he says: "He also plans to eliminate all capital gains taxes on startup and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation." - http://awurl.com/hICQbvM3H#first_awesome_highlight http://awurl.com/hICQbvM3H#first_awesome_highlight
Prrometheus 18y ago
Sell mugs with Obama's face on them in college gift-shops? Sorry, didn't read the article.

21 points by stanley 18y ago

hugh 18y ago

Wow. Despite the title, that's pretty much all doom-and-gloom. Alternative possibility: move to another country. New Zealand, frinstance, has just elected a new business-friendly government, it has lots of smart, well-educated people and a low cost of living.

DTrejo 18y ago
shhh, New Zealand is a secret!
ibsulon 18y ago
Business friendly in New Zealand would be considered downright hostile in the US.
- jonas_b 18y ago
  Is that for fact true? I would very much like to believe it since I've spent some time i NZ and found it to be very hospitable to companies in some respects. That would mean that the US kick ass (Im considering relocating to the US btw).

python-nut 18y ago

so how do I shift profits overseas?

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
sebastian 18y ago
any thoughts on this?
markessien 18y ago
Don't be silly. If you are going to be making $300.000 in profits anytime soon, you will have enough money to hire a tax adviser who will tell you how to hide this money.
- helveticaman 18y ago
  You won't be able to hide all of it that easily.

hooande 18y ago

Mixed thoughts on this article. The author raised some points that I thought were good, namely the fact that you don't need to be a direct beneficiary of the new administration's proposed programs to profit from them. If they plan to put money into green tech or education, perhaps you could make money by providing a service to those industries. If after school care centers are about to become flush with government cash, perhaps they'll need some kind of software to help them grow. The downside to this article is that most of it is based what the Obama administrated has stated it ~wants~ to do. You'd be foolish to actually plan a business around campaign promises. But these are definitely some things to keep in mind.

pg 18y ago

Businesses generally perhaps, but not startups. I wouldn't advise the average startup to modify their strategy based on what administration is in power.

unalone 18y ago
I think it's useful advice for people who are just starting up now, though. If you want to be an entrepreneur but don't know what field to start in, playing along the lines of what the new administration is looking for means that you're opening in a field that everybody will be watching.
- pg 18y ago
  I don't think so. A better and completely orthogonal compass is to try to see one's position on the pretty much inevitable path of technological development. Woz was much better off thinking "What can I do now that DRAMs have been invented?" than "What can I do now that Carter has been elected?"
  - unalone 18y ago
    Okay, I see where you're coming from.
- vaksel 18y ago
  if you have the choice of what to start in...but how many people have that? Am I going to suddenly start a wind farm company just because Obama will invest money into them? Its not like the small time entrepreneurs have a lot of hope getting government contracts. Most of that money will go to the established players in those industries who can afford to pay lobbyists
- jumper 18y ago
  I suspect that most people who go for whatever field is apparently "hot" wind up not doing very well. I would imagine those who get into fields because they're just following what they know\have interest in have much better chances. They have a hope of finding and building something so cool it makes the new "hot" field. Course, that was a huge generalization with tons of assumptions, so YMMV.

krschultz 18y ago

How Entrepreneurs Can Profit with Obama: As consumer confidence in our government increases (as it always does in a new administration's honeymoon period), and as the policies of the current and future stimulus packages take effect, the economy will inevitably improve. Despite the tax issues, if you thought John McCain's federal government spending freeze was a good idea during a recession, you don't know much about economics. An improved economy means more funding and more customers. Forget the details, it is hard to make ANY money when the stock market is going down 40% in a few months and people are saving every penny because they are scared.

nihilocrat 18y ago

A lot of this points out why I just don't understand "right-leaning" folk. Unless you are a huge, faceless corporation you really shouldn't be paying your workers minimum wage or giving them crappy health benefits, so I don't see how your expenses in those areas are going to increase or that "It's going to be good times for workers. Not such great times for employers." Oh no, you might have to start treating them slightly more like human beings! A lot of this advice is just that "smart people will find loopholes in the new tax codes and avoid paying it like they have been for decades", bordering on tax fraud. He indirectly admits he makes over $250,000 a year, and I hate to voice a knee-jerk reaction, but he should really be counting his blessings he's not been on the short end of the stick (living paycheck-to-paycheck working said minimum wage jobs, for example). Instead, he gets spooked that he might have to give more of his precious precious money away.

jpcx01 18y ago
Your comment points out why I don't understand "left-leaning" folk. Mentioning he makes over $250,000 doesn't need to be "admitted". He should be proud of it. It's not that his money is precious, it's a direct result of his contribution to the economy. And the money isn't whats important, the work that produced that money is what's important. Whenever someone in the country works hard and produces something, it benefits every person in the US, including you and me. However when we decide that the only important thing is that he made more money then us, then people like him will decide to either produce less (it's not hard if you are already well off to take a well earned vacation), or just produce more overseas to avoid our confiscation attempts.
- rw 18y ago
  Whenever someone in the country works hard and produces something, it benefits every person in the US, including you and me. So now we have trickle down, trickle across, and trickle up?
frisco 18y ago
> Oh no, you might have to start treating them slightly more like human beings! I don't think many startups are guilty of this. But even so, could you imagine what it would do to the startup community if you required every company regardless of size to offer its employees health insurance? I don't think that Palo Alto would end up looking anything like it does now. There are risks involved in launching a startup the first few years. Everyone knows this. But, with the risks come proportionate rewards, which brings us to: > Instead, he gets spooked that he might have to give more of his precious precious money away. You have it backwards. It's been said a lot recently that the "hard working middle class middle americans" are the foundation of our country; actually, the entrepreneurs and business leaders who end up making tons of money are the foundation of our country. Without them, no one else would have jobs. You can offer as much welfare or unemployment benefits as you want, but the people you really need happy are the founders of the world. If you make it totally unprofitable or fail to recognize the risks inherent in going out on a limb with no safety net to offer a service to others, we'll either stop (well, slow down or find a new model to do it) or move elsewhere.

auston 18y ago

My question: Are "Capital gains rates" different from "capital gains taxes"? Because he says: "Capital gains rates will go up, too." - http://awurl.com/GC4ypKrSY#first_awesome_highlight http://awurl.com/GC4ypKrSY#first_awesome_highlight and then he says: "He also plans to eliminate all capital gains taxes on startup and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation." - http://awurl.com/hICQbvM3H#first_awesome_highlight http://awurl.com/hICQbvM3H#first_awesome_highlight

Prrometheus 18y ago

Sell mugs with Obama's face on them in college gift-shops? Sorry, didn't read the article.