January 8, 2013. In the startup world we talk a lot about assembling the founding team and getting an initial product to market. We begin our companies with collegial groups of smart, well-educated peers who are trusted partners. They generally have the capacity to get things on time, to spec, and within budget without close supervision. It’s all peachy.
Regardless of who wins the election in a couple of weeks, there is much uncertainty around taxes and benefits along with all the usual pressures of annual reviews, bonuses, parties, and work interruptions associated with the Holidays. As of this writing, the Presidential election is still too close to call, and even the control of the Senate is possibly up for grabs. Dealing with the looming fiscal cliff is going to require some cooperation in Washington that we haven’t seen in the last four years.
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is another in an informative series from our friends at TriNet. I hear lots of discussion in the startup scene about technical issues, finance, marketing, and other matters, but very little about charting out a course that involves scaling with actual employees. A startup can only get so far with contractors, interns, and students. For one thing, there are limits on how you can utilize contractors before having to classify them as employees and deal with payroll taxes, work rules and benefits. More important, if you are succe
