grellas

26 ms·

91.
by grellas 11y ago
Federal tax law generally requires that unexercised options expire not later than 90 days after termination as one of the conditions to their keeping ISO status. Startups by and large have held fast to this requirement. A few, such as Pinte
92.
by grellas 11y ago
Sorry for not putting it more clearly. When I said that liquidation preferences do not drive up valuations, I meant (in the spirit of the article) that this is not an explanation for why valuations today are extraordinarily high for this nu
93.
by grellas 11y ago
The analysis in this article is very superficial. Liquidation preferences do not drive up valuations. Of course, they offer "insurance" to preferred stock investors against downside risk. But they have being so for several decades
94.
by grellas 11y ago
This is an inherently tough situation for the founders but not unwinnable, provided: 1. The code is as they say it is, entirely independently developed as opposed to code that infringes the employer's copyright because it has been stol
95.
by grellas 11y ago
Getting older gets you to focus. What is on that list of things I just know I will do someday given the time? Well, whatever it is, it just got smaller. But that doesn't really even matter. It is not about how much you do but about doi
96.
by grellas 11y ago
Lotteries are a sucker game because, as in California (for example), the players put their money into the pot, the house takes one-third off the top (administrative expenses), the house takes another one-third for a good cause (education or
97.
by grellas 11y ago
People's investment philosophy will vary and tolerance for risk will play a major role in it all. My own view is this, and it is based on a lifetime of having made all the typical mistakes. Steady is the best way to go for your investa
98.
by grellas 11y ago
Speaking as one who is laid back in a personality sense, I could imagine nothing worse than a life lived non-stop frenetically under the imagined need to speed up all activity in the name of productivity. Take time to pause, reflect, thin
99.
by grellas 11y ago
Here is a thread in which I explain various technical points relating to the tax treatment of stock options: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2623777 Adding to this on your specific question about loss: when you exercis
100.
by grellas 11y ago
Law is a strange business to which to apply automated functionality. On the one hand, and especially touching on startup-related areas, the law can have incredible complexity. When you consider that corporate law, securities law (federal an
101.
by grellas 11y ago
What Newegg does is highly commendable. To achieve a decisive victory in these cases, Newegg typically has to take the defense of its case through a full trial and possibly an appeal. People often fail to appreciate just how risky a trial
102.
by grellas 11y ago
We live in an era where major founder leverage is a fact of life in the startup world. Unlike the bubble era, founders today - or at least those that are among the most talented - have substantial power in determining the direction of their
103.
Gawker Reels Amid Identity Crisis(wsj.com)
1 points by grellas 11y ago|0 comments
104.
by grellas 11y ago
A few thoughts: 1. This is a denial of a petition for writ of certiorari, which is a fancy legal term for a request that the U.S. Supreme Court exercise its discretionary jurisdiction to consider the appeal. This means that the court can
105.
by grellas 11y ago
Back in the day, a C&D was a private affair. As a lawyer, you would give someone the big blast and, right or wrong, you could not really embarrass your client because you were basically writing to an audience of one. Today, if you screw
106.
by grellas 11y ago
A few thoughts: 1. This is an appeal from a decision by a hearing officer of the California Labor Commissioner. Most of the time such officers spend their days hearing things such as minimum wage claims. Hearings do not follow the strict ru
107.
by grellas 11y ago
It is a good rule of thumb in writing not to make the reader work hard to get your meaning, to have to blast for it if you will. Brevity promotes simplicity and simple things are much easier to understand than are those that are prolix. So
108.
by grellas 11y ago
Hitchhiking died because the car culture died. From the 1950s and into the 1960s, cars were the thing. They were an adventure . You were some moronic kid with nothing exciting to do and, all of a sudden, you had freedom - you could kiss
109.
by grellas 11y ago
This case has nothing really to do with the claim of the named plaintiff. If being brushed off after a brief interview, etc. and similar skimpy items were the criteria for filing a claim for age discrimination, the courts could be loaded wi
110.
by grellas 11y ago
In a particularly spectacular display of corporate delusion, John Deere—the world’s largest agricultural machinery maker —told the Copyright Office that farmers don’t own their tractors. Because computer code snakes through the DNA of mode
111.
by grellas 12y ago
A few technical points: 1. U.S. tax law requires that incentive stock options (ISOs) have a 90-day termination tail on them - that is, the options do not qualify as ISOs if they are not issued under an enforceable agreement by which all v
112.
by grellas 12y ago
U.S. law fundamentally rests on the idea of checks and balances and a division of power so that no one person or body can easily enact or execute laws that are against the interests of the people. The legislative branch enacts laws, the exe
113.
by grellas 12y ago
Law does not operate in a vacuum because, in the end, it is closely tied to power - to fine, to jail, to sanction, to regulate and restrict - and that makes it scary when it becomes unhinged from a sense of principle in its application. Is
114.
by grellas 12y ago
Founders build value and then want to realize upon that value. But the typical road to success in the startup world is far from easy. Therefore, founders are vulnerable to manipulation and one of their softest spots is precisely the time
115.
by grellas 12y ago
Even as a lawyer, one becomes weary after a time in seeing how people use the law to abuse others. The key to this sort of trademark claim is likelihood of confusion or perhaps implied endorsement in having a common-sounding name. Where it
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Walter Isaacson: What Could Be Lost as Einstein's Papers Go Online?(online.wsj.com)
3 points by grellas 12y ago|0 comments
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Mean People Fail(paulgraham.com)
489 points by grellas 12y ago|479 comments
118.
Apple and Others Encrypt Phones, Fueling Government Standoff(online.wsj.com)
1 points by grellas 12y ago|0 comments
119.
by grellas 12y ago
So you are an Amazon board member and you receive this letter. The letter is said to be directed to you in confidence. It is not. It is openly published on scribd for all the world to see. The letter is said to be written by an ex-executive
120.
by grellas 12y ago
Generally it is a bad idea to let a company probe deeply into your technical specs without having a good indicator in place that they are proposing some sort of deal that would be favorable to you. Usually that means an LOI stating the broa

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