Best & Worst Decisions Starting Companies

markfletcher writes "Today I launched a new site, Startupping, dedicated to helping Internet entrepreneurs. For the launch I asked several successful entrepreneurs about lessons they learned starting and running Internet companies. The first set of replies includes responses from Paul Graham, John Battelle, Chris Pirillo, Ross Mayfield, and Dick Costolo."

MOD PARENT DOWN !

[Anonymous Coward]

He's using an old /. trick in order to promote his own website.

1) Make a funny post (as AC, so you d'ont care about Karma), with the URL of your website at the end of it.
2) Get modded up "Funny"
3) Your URL is visible to all Slashdotters
4) Visitors => Profit !

Too bad I have neither a website nor a blog, so I can't try :(

Re:MOD PARENT DOWN !

[jeevesbond]

Nope, they have rel="nofollow" on the links. Really, I am going to get naff-all benefits from posting that link. :)

Re:And i-bullshit too!

[the_womble]

In the case of Startupping, the wiki has been written byy someone who does not know what a business plan is - it gives a list of potential revenue streams as business plans. I assume he has written stuff that he knows FA about, in the hope that someone competent will come along and write some sense.

The rest of the wiki is equally useless.

The forums are not exactly active.

The blog aggregators might be useful.

The Startupping blog itself consists of the one article linked to. That post itself has nothing earthshaking. Old advice like "do something you love", "hire good people", "stick to core competencies" and "don't be afraid to take risks".

Why exactly would anyone want to visit this site?

nolo.com

[Brian Stretch]

Nolo [nolo.com]. No contest. They have quite a bit of free information and you can buy their eBooks in DRM-free .pdf format in addition to the usual dead trees versions.

BTW, you almost certainly want to go LLC.

Robert A. Cooke

[mosel-saar-ruwer]

A place to discuss contract terms, get recommendations for legal help, advice on whether to go LLC or C-corp - or one of the million other questions that come up.

A fellow named "Robert A. Cooke" has written several easy-reading tax law/accountancy books, very much in the mould of what you might call "The Idiot's Guide[s] to Teaching Yourself Corporate Tax Law in About 24 Minutes Flat":

How to Start Your Own 'S' Corporation, Second Edition
Mar 2, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471398128/ [amazon.com]

Doing Business Tax-Free: Perfectly Legal Techniques to Reduce or Eliminate Your Federal Business Taxes, 2nd Edition
April 23, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471418218/ [amazon.com]

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course In Finance for Non-Financial Managers
Feb 4, 2004
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071425462/ [amazon.com]

Buy Your Own Business With Other People's Money
April 25, 2005
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471694983/ [amazon.com]

etc etc etc

Be aware, though, that Congress has a bad habit of changing the "laws" about every five minutes [and dittoes as regards the IRS & the "regulations"], so at any one point in time, no single person on the entire planet is entirely certain of the precise state of all the laws and all the regulations at that very moment.

But I'd recommend Cooke as a good place to start to get an overview of the big picture.

Re:Other Startup Sites

[adickerson0]

http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/ [angelcapit...iation.org]
http://www.nolo.com/ [nolo.com]
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html [sba.gov]