My Workspace at The Fuel Team in Denver
Recently we restructured our teams at The Fuel Team and I found myself not sitting with the Dev Team for the first time in my career. I was hesitant at first but the physical move has created a new headspace for me to operate in. Our Dev Team cranks hard, everyday. They work on big features, production work, design work, work within multiple languages and platforms and find time to have a ton of fun as well. Being separated from this has allowed me to slow down my pace, ween myself off the high that comes from cranking out work, and think hard about our products, product roadmap and software development approach. It’s funny how the grass is always greener. I always wished for more time to think about our products, now that I have it, I find myself longing to program….trying to learn Rails and Objective C in my spare time!
Running everyday in August
I was searching for a new fitness goal and decided to run, at least a mile or so, everyday in August. I completed my goal and encourage others to give it a try. Below is a list of Pros and Cons from my experience:
Pros:
- feeling healthy on a daily basis
- getting more fresh air than normal
- having something interesting to talk about
- lost 3 lbs
- bought new running shoes
- plowed through some of those podcasts I wished I had more time to listen to
Cons:
- legs, especially my knees, were sore a few days and I knew I should’ve rested but instead I ran
- my normal runs became shorter (averaging 2.5 miles), no long runs in August
This challenge was a great lesson in “glass 1/2 empty, glass 1/2 full” thinking. You have to approach everyday with the right attitude. Either it’s “This sucks, I am so busy and there is no way I can go for a run” or this “I’m sorry, I can’t meet you for drinks after work. I am trying to run everyday in August and have to get my run in, you understand right?”
I recommend this challenge for anyone, runner or non-runner. It’s a great way to turn just another normal month into something more.
The Fuel Team acquired by PR Newswire
We announced some huge news this morning for our company, The Fuel Team.
http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/prnewswire/39408/
In 2002, Micha Hanson and I received a phone call from Dee Rambeau asking for some coding help. Dee and his business partner Jason Keller had a PR and software background and understood the opportunity for building easy to use tools to help the overworked PR professional. Micha and I were impressed by the idea. Jason moved from San Francisco to Denver, we teamed up with Rob Gwin and the first products were born.
Today’s announcement of the PRN acquisition is a great example of how a small company can be laser focused on building great products and the right strategic partnerships will develop. I’m so proud of our crew.
Setting up a 529 Plan in Colorado
We had a baby in January and I’ve been procrastinating setting up her 529 plan.
“A 529 Plan is an education savings plan operated by a state or educational institution designed to help families set aside funds for future college costs. It is named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code which created these types of savings plans in 1996.”
Source: savingforcollege.com
I’ve skimmed articles and listened to podcasts about the subject, here are some highlights:
1. You have to research and choose a State offered 529 Plan
I chose Colorado’s 529 Plan, my home state, mainly because I just love Colorado..and I wanted the tax benefits their 529 Plan gave me for being a resident. I then choose the Direct Portfolio Savings Plan because it was managed by Vanguard and I have an IRA with them.
2. Once you’ve decided on a 529 Plan, you have to signup and choose options
The Direct Portfolio Savings Plan 529 Plan that I chose offered 4 options, each based on level of risk. Of course, I have no idea what I’m doing so I just choose the first option, “Age-based”, it adjusts your level of risk over time beginning at high risk and moving to low risk as it gets closer to the beginning of college. This is the option the Obama’s chose for their kids.
3. Now you can start contributing
The maximum the 529 Plan can have in it is $280,000. You can contribute whatever you want each year until you reach that maximum.
4. When you are ready to pull money out:
Distributions from the Plan that go towards tuition costs come out tax-free. This makes sense because the money has already been taxed when it goes in but then comes out without being taxed. So, you are not double taxed on this money or it’s gains by the IRS. Read this FAQ page for more info
I also enjoyed listening to Marketplace’s Story on choosing 529 Plans.
What is Capitalization?
This email exchange between myself and a business partner explains Capitalization or Cap Structure:
From: KT
Subject: What is Capitalization?
You and Dave mentioned Capitalization today…..is this the right definition for what you were talking about?
Capitalization
Total amount of the various securities issued by a corporation. Capitalization may include bonds, debentures, preferred and common stock, and surplus. Bonds and debentures are usually carried on the books of the issuing company in terms of their par or face value. Preferred and common shares may be carried in terms of par or stated value. Stated value may be an arbitrary figure decided upon by the director or may represent the amount received by the company from the sale of the securities at the time of issuance.
KT
And the response:
From: John
Subject: RE: What is Capitalization?
Yes, but a simple definition would be the finical makeup/ownership of the company in terms funding and value. For example ACME’s current ownership structure is 50% ABC Holdings and 50% XYZ Corp (me). In bringing Steve aboard we will ask him for additional capital in order to join the company in exchange for his acquired percentage of ownership. We will determine a value of the company (lets say $1 million) and then exchange 10% of equity in ACME for $100,000.00. A simple example but on point. We could also go to a bank and get a loan and provide capital to the company. This would alter our capitalization or cap structure adding debt in place of equity funding. Let me know if you have other questions.
John
