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Separately, if there are topics you'd like to see me cover, please email me at waseem@pilot.com.

Setting up your finance stack

• The basics of financial hygiene (avoiding commingling, separating out business and personal expenses ASAP)
• What systems you should set up right away (bank, credit card, etc.) and why
• What are valid business expenses, and what are your recordkeeping obligations around them?
• Treasury management 101 for startup founders
• Common pitfalls you should absolutely avoid

Finance and accounting

• Basic accounting concepts: what is accounting? How do I read a financial statement?
• When do I actually need accounting? What can I usefully derive from my accounting records?
• Should you DIY? How should you DIY?
• Responding to investor information requests

Collecting money from customers

• Considerations around getting your first sale: what is a quote? What is an invoice? How do you actually get money from people?
• Best practices for invoicing and what payment methods you should accept
• AP and AR: what are they? What are hygiene best practices?
• The importance of annual prepayments

Taxes

• What are my tax obligations, in general, and how do I deal with them?
• Important tax dates and FAQs
• You have to file taxes even if you didn't make any money
• You have to file taxes for a given year even if you were incorporated for just one day
• What do you actually need to file?
• What's the deal with Delaware franchise tax?
• Sales tax
• Special considerations for foreign founders
• Special considerations for companies with remote employees

Hiring people

• How do you hire people?
• Categorization: employee vs. contractor, full-time vs. part-time, exempt vs. non-exempt
• Employment paperwork: CIIA, NDA
• State registrations
• Worker's Comp
• Payroll
• Do you have to pay yourself?
• How much should you pay yourself?
• Hiring people internationally
• Other business insurance?
• Benefits, selecting benefits, and what's appropriate in the early days

Equity

• Issuing equity
• 83(b) elections
• Vesting considerations: vesting schedule, cliffs
• Single-trigger and double-trigger acceleration—and our views on it
• How much equity should someone get? What does it mean?
• Frequent employee questions about equity
• Cap table management 101
• 409(a) valuations

Other considerations

• Your other miscellaneous obligations
• Record-keeping obligations
• Data rooms
• QSBS

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