As long as we're talking fantasy, the thing to buy from Toady are options. If some fanboy, lurker or troublemaker came into millions and wanted to throw a bone at Toady they'd have to get something in return and options are a good way to go. There are a few reasons why.
Gifts over the gift tax limit are burdensome. I think it's eleven grand, now, but it could be more. I don't work in that department anymore. See, the giftor pays the tax, not the giftee. Still, people with 'too much money' are encouraged by their accountants, if they hire good ones, to limit their own tax burden.
Sure you can play shell games with the gift tax by max gifting to your target and then max gifting to some other individual who then max gifts to your target. But that either involves trust or complication legalisms. And who's to say you don't want to use the same trick (which you can only use once per year per pass-through) to max gift to your niece's 529 through your aunt and uncle, assuming you can trust family to begin with.
I don't know how Toady is set up, but if he's accepting donations through a non-profit model that eases up the restrictions on donations. But it creates new restrictions on him and complicates things he's probably currently doing out of his checkbook. It's a fine thing to do if you can pay an accountant to reconcile your books on a quarterly basis, but I don't think Toady and his brother are up for that. I also doubt either one of them have taken 300-level accounting classes or are too terribly keen on self-learning that discipline to an adequate degree.
So that leaves the Old Choices, namely Debt or Equity.
Debt financing is out of the question since you have to pay it back and this business model, no offense, doesn't feel like it's at the point where such a commitment is a prudent choice. It's like getting married at sixteen. Sure it works for some people, but for most you're on a five year timer to heartbreak and financial sorrow.
Divorce, death, and taxes are what makes my job truly interesting, beyond the odd fat-fingering in account setup or migration.
Direct equity financing may be a bit rash at this point because Toady and his brother cannot be reasonably expected to understand how much their stock should be worth if their efforts are successful. Honestly the same is true for potential investors, whose decisions should be made carefully and given respect as well.
But options, options can be sold to finance growth, sustenance and a desktop computer that won't seize up like some rape-traumatized nice-girl the first time some gentleman puts his hand on the care package to the male race that G-d put where her legs come together. As long as Toady and his brother are careful not to sell options for more than 49% (or as long as they institute some kind of wildassed Founders' Shares scheme (see F)), they can maintain total control of the company into perpetuity.
And total control is inclusive of creative control, which is what we care about. Well, it's what I care about, anyway.
Anyway, they can maintain effective control with less than 51%, but that's another story. Most founders don't have the ability to scale their business past a certain degree and require Adult Supervision at some point. But that subject is beyond the scope of this post.
If I were to win the Powerball or some other fantasy windfall, I would put together an offer for options, with the caveat that I be allowed to help. Ten years ago I really enjoyed coding and I have a tolerance for monotony that suites a code-grinder. I wrote bad C that balanced on the edge of obfuscation. But it cut out clock-cycles while it was earning me bad marks from instructors who favored legibility.
With an understanding that I was to provide no creative input I could still enjoy optimizing and bug-chasing in someone else's code according to someone else's rules.
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Topic: For the 2 Adams (Read 10141 times)