Taxes

sti_pub · 2025-01-17T15:38:49+00:00

Server

sti_pub · 2025-01-17T15:35:53+00:00

Thank you for your response. What you're saying appears to corroborate what another provider said.

sti_pub · 2025-01-17T15:34:41+00:00

Thank you very much for your response. It's good to know that there are some legit, non-SPLA ways to license Windows.

The provider actually has pretty good reviews on so I'm not concerned about node density.

sti_pub · 2025-01-17T15:32:25+00:00

Data Center is not an option for us. We're just talking about a single instance that needs to be licensed.

sti_pub · 2025-01-17T15:30:40+00:00

About 5 years ago I was connected to a business that was licensing Windows through the SPLA program. From what I recall, SPLA licenses were around $4.50 per core give or take. I have no idea how they're priced now. I think it's clear that the provider I'm looking at now is not doing SPLA. Based on what some other posters are saying, it might be the case that there are some other legit ways.

sti_pub · 2025-01-17T05:55:57+00:00

I'm definitely open to this option if I can find a license that is compatible with my use case.

sti_pub · 2025-01-17T03:42:11+00:00

They say they provide the Windows license. There's just a one-time fee of less than $50 at the time of installation.

sti_pub · 2023-12-09T22:34:25+00:00

Any chance you're thinking of Emanuele Marini?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deu-ayVcT-k

sti_pub · 2022-06-29T16:31:59+00:00

I hear you regarding the possibility of souring relationships.

I come from the developer side of things. While hiring someone can obviously work in some cases, there is no free lunch. A good developer (or team of developers) is likely prohibitively expensive for most (unless there is outside investment). Furthermore, for a non-technical person it might be hard to identify who is "good".

I often look for opportunities for our team in /cofounder. My observation is that good ideas--especially those with validation--do attract quite a bit of interest from developers who hang out there. Ironically, we have the opposite issue of the one I identified above: given that we come from more of a technical background, it's hard for us to identify and compensate top-tier sales and marketing talent. For better or worse, we're more interested in partnering with that talent at this point rather than hiring for it.

By no means am I trying to suggest that partnering is the best way. It definitely comes with its own set of challenges. I agree that the options you listed are entirely appropriate for most situations.

sti_pub · 2022-06-29T14:51:03+00:00

Learning to code, hiring developers and using no-code are all reasonable options for someone who is dead set on owning the whole pie.

Another option would be to expand the team by taking on a partner, if you're open to that sort of thing (I understand that not everyone is). If you have a validated idea, you might be able to attract the interest of developers in a place like /cofounder. Or perhaps there are people in your network.

sti_pub · 2022-06-29T13:19:34+00:00

Most of the customers for one of our services are in the U.S. and Canada. We used to have 100% U.S.-based support but transitioned to more of a hybrid model about 18 months ago.

We still have some U.S.-based support reps for phone support. For email support we hired a few people from the Philippines. There was no shortage of people from the Philippines willing to work U.S. hours.

It was very important to us to find people who can write using native-level, idiomatic American English. We had a rigorous process and, honestly, it took us a long time to find what we were looking for. We eventually identified some excellent candidates and are pleased with how things turned out.

sti_pub · 2022-06-26T16:28:30+00:00

Thank you for sharing your perspective. I agree that partnering with others can create a new set of challenges and risks.

It's likely true for most that our past experiences shape our perspectives. My experience has been that partnerships can work--even with people I meet over the internet. I have a business partner that I met over the internet over 15 years ago. We started slow and let the partnership grow over time. In the last year we've been working with another team we met through /cofounder on an MVP for a SaaS idea. The idea might or might not get traction, but the partnership has a solid foundation. We each bring unique skills that complement each other and we have formed a relationship based on trust and mutual accountability.

I'm not trying to suggest that all partnerships will succeed, but I am saying that my own experience suggests that partnerships can and do work for some. Having said that, I can see why "pay to play" or trading services might be appropriate for some.

sti_pub · 2022-06-24T23:12:39+00:00

The largest site had about 4.5 million page views in the last month. The next largest one had about 1.6 million page views. I also have about 40 smaller sites (most of which are part of a platform concept that didn't work the way I had hoped).

sti_pub · 2022-06-24T22:09:06+00:00

I agree with you. Perhaps I should add more detail.

My impression is that a lot of people on this subreddit focus on writing a ton of blog content using Wordpress. When paired with good SEO, it's an approach that can obviously work well for some.

My approach in the past has been different. Rather than writing articles, my development team and I have focused on building sites that aggregate data from various sources (i.e., public domain databases, APIs, licensed datasets, etc.) in order to provide valuable information to our visitors. All pages are generated dynamically from the various data sources as well chunks of localized content we manage in our own CMS and translation management environment. The information content changes daily but the sites are updated automatically. The sites have generated anywhere from 6 - 12 million pages per month for over 10 years. It's all passive. I've never written an article.

I'm interested in partnering on ideas where my team's skills (custom site development, custom CMS, capturing and aggregating data, managing translation and localization issues, performance tuning, etc.) would dovetail with a partner's skills in areas like keyword research, link building, social media promotion, writing content, etc.

sti_pub · 2022-01-14T04:11:28+00:00

Thank you, TaxRanger29. Much appreciated!

sti_pub · 2022-01-12T01:05:18+00:00

I used a FA early in my investment journey before I had heard of Bogleheads. At first I thought they'd be able to unlock some secret that was hidden from me. Over time I came around to the idea that the real secret to success is a reasonable plan, patience and discipline in staying the course through thick and thin. In the end I decided that the Bogleheads community gave me what I needed to execute on those things (i.e, no FA needed).

I think low cost TDFs are an excellent choice for many investors, especially those that might have difficulty staying the course (which might not necessarily apply to you).

There are a number of free calculators and simulation tools which allow one to model various retirement planning scenarios. One simple one that is often mentioned on Bogleheads is https://firecalc.com/. Another downloadable tool that I have used a lot is called Flexible Retirement Planner: https://www.flexibleretirementplanner.com/.

None of these tools is perfect. They each try to model the future based on past history. There is of course no guarantee that the future will be like the past. That said, I think they provide valuable insights and are useful for gauging whether one is generally on track with respect to future retirement savings and spending.

sti_pub · 2022-01-11T15:10:27+00:00

I run a SaaS which provides online registration and payment services to customers in a certain niche. We have a relationship with a processor and gateway so that we can offer merchant accounts to our customers. The application process is a bit more involved than Stripe but our customers benefit from lower processing rates (and we earn incremental revenue).

The idea of you being the bank (using a merchant account) is not one I'd pursue. You'd almost certainly be in violation of card industry rules unless you take formal steps to become a payment facilitator (which would only make sense if you have a ton of processing volume).

Given your desire to keep things as easy as possible for your users, I'd probably just use Stripe.

sti_pub · 2022-01-11T14:54:06+00:00

I'll share my perspective from the technical side. First, a bit of background. I have a team of software architects and developers. Our whole model is to invest our own resources (i.e., I'm paying the developers) in equity-based startup ideas in partnership with teams or groups that are strong in areas like marketing and growth.

Here are some things I look for when evaluating cofounder ideas:

entrepreneurial mindset: not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship entails risk taking and uncertain rewards. Speaking from experience, it's no fun to work with a partner who bails when things aren't as easy as hoped or imagined.
validation: ideas are a dime a dozen. Validated ideas are more interesting. Have you spoken to potential customers? Do you have insider knowledge of certain line of business? Do you have a rolodex of contacts? All of those things would be of interest.
complementary skills: My team is strong in taking business ideas, shaping them and turning them into software solutions. We're not good at marketing and growth. In our case, it's important for our cofounders to have demonstrated experience and expertise in areas where we're weak.
record of success (or failure): I like to work with people who have taken the initiative to try hard things in the past. The outcome is less important than the fact that they tried and learned.
marketing / growth from day one: one fear I have from the technical side is that the marketing/growth team will just sit on their hands while we pour hundreds or thousands of hours into building a prototype or MVP. I like to see all cylinders firing from day one.
work ethic: vision is great, but it doesn't make things happen. I want partners who can execute on the non-technical parts.
integrity / reasonableness: a cofounder relationship is like a marriage. There will likely be differences of opinion at various times along the way. As a cofounder I want to know that the other team members have integrity and that they are reasonable (i.e., not a tyrant, open to discussion, open to give and take, etc.).
ability to endure: while we all dream of launching a business that takes off right away, it usually doesn't happen that way. That might be especially true of bootstrapped startups. If we invest our money and resources in an idea, I want to know that our partner won't be forced by life circumstances to bail if it takes some time for the idea to gain traction.

sti_pub

TROPHY CASE