Everyday Is Donors Choose Best School Day

Last month you may have heard about "Best School Day" courtesy of Stephen Colbert and some other very generous individuals. Several successful people around the United States secretly flash funded every Donors Choose campaign in their home cities, totaling over $14 million in donations in one day.

If you are not familiar with Donors Choose, it is a crowd funding education platform that connects teachers in high-need communities with donors who want to help. It is a great platform and it has impacted classrooms all over the country. I have seen it's effect personally before through the hard and impressive work of Colleen, or Ms. M as her students call her. While Best School Day may be over there is still plenty of good to be done, so I wanted to highlight one Donors Choose campaign that I am supporting right now.

"Budding Artists Need Art Supplies & Literacy Resources!" is a current Donors Choose campaign by Ms. M at P.S. 172 Elementary School in Brooklyn which will help over 450 Arts Students. Specifically, the students need art cards to support literacy, an artist DVD, papers, paints, a light box, glue tubes, and texture rollers to carry out art lessons throughout all elementary grades. To support these arts students, just learn more about Ms. M's work at P.S. 172, or to get involved with any other project on Donors Choose you can click here. I know the students will appreciate it! 

2016 Startup Funding Trends With Adeo Ressi

Adeo Ressi at Valley in Berlin 2016

In 2015 it was all the rage to be a "unicorn", a startup company with a billion dollar valuation. Since then the supposed "startup and tech bubble" has popped and the gold rush is over. But what is really happening with the markets? 

Alex Konrad recently gave us some insight on Ambition Today and now today we have a more in-depth explanation of what is happening from Adeo Ressi, the founder of the Founder Institute. Last month Adeo was in Germany for the "Valley in Berlin Summit" and keynoted a talk around the 2016 Startup Funding Trends we are currently seeing. If you are thinking about fundraising, have a startup, or plan on starting your own company you are going to want to watch the keynote below. 

Your Heart Rate At Gunpoint

Recently my friend Aleksandar Vukasinovic, Founder of Emozia, was robbed at gunpoint while walking home from work. Luckily, I can confirm Aleks is alright. Also, it turns out that during the encounter he was wearing some wearable technology. I felt there are some profound lessons about technology and the meaningfulness of life in his story, so I wanted to make sure I share it with you. Here is Alek's story in his own words: 

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Aleksandar Vukasinovic Heart Rate

It’s a beautiful evening, albeit a little cold. I’m heading home after a long day. I’m walking down a familiar street. I feel safe, I feel happy.

Two guys are walking in my direction. Nothing unusual about them.

As we are about to pass each other, one of them bumbs into me. He grabs my hand and shoves a gun into my rib. He instructs me not to speak or move. His accomplice covers my other side. I am cornered.

My first thought is “Is this seriously happening to me?” I look down at the gun — yes, yes it is. “Should I run, should I fight, should I scream?” I though. In a split second, I decide to fully cooperate. I don’t want to get shot.

They showed me into an ally off the main street. There is no one around. No one can see us.

And then it really hit me: they could kill me right there. No one would see. No one would know what happened. My fear turned into horror. What was I going to die for? I want to experience life, I want to help people, build companies, have a family. I was going to be denied that, for what? Because of what? I felt pure horror as I realized that my time to experience life and use my skills to build a better world might be up.

The guys told me to empty my pockets. They instructed me to unlock my phone and other personal accounts. I did everything they asked me to do. They backed away with my belongings pointing the gun at me. The guy with the gun told me to stay put and then they ran and disappeared form sight.

A few days later, once the ordeal was over and I was able to process what had happened, I began analyzing wearable sensor data form the event. Unbeknown to the perpetrators, I study wearable and mobile sensor data as part of my work. Luckily, I had a bunch of wearables on me that I was testing that day. One of them captured my heart rate through the ordeal.

My usual resting heart rate is 58bpm. My heart rate right before the confrontation was 80bpm. When the perpetrator pushed the gun into my ribs, my heart rate spiked to 130 bpm. When I began thinking about my death, my heart rate rose to 164bpm. When they took my belongings and started backing away, my heart rate decreased to 118bpm.

I found the data fascinating. To me, it suggested that the most stressful part of the ordeal was not getting assaulted or seeing a gun. The most stressful part was realizing that I was out of time to live through the experiences I wanted to have and to make the contributions I wanted to to my family and community.

The more I thought about the heart rate variations and the thoughts that went though my head about my mortality, the more I looked at the experience as a blessing in disguise. I kind of got to experience how I would feel before I am about to die practically at the start of my life. And I don’t want to feel that I didn’t experience everything I wanted to, that I didn’t contribute everything I could, that I didn’t leave the world a better place than I found it.

The event drastically changed my outlook on life. It motivated me to doubly pursue my goals, to mold my life into what I want it to become and fight for what I believe is right. In a weird way, I not only forgive the perpetrators but also feel thankful for the perspective that I got from the experience.

If you want to find out why I had the wearables on me — check out emozia. I hope that sharing this experience inspires you to live your life in a way that makes you and others smile!

I Deleted Every App On My Phone

I and everyone around me knows I have too many apps on my phone. Years of testing apps from various startups and services combined with the never leave an app behind again "iCloud Backup" meant that unless I deleted an app manually, it never went away. Then something happened. Apparently somewhere hidden in my iCloud backup was a glitch according the Genius's at Apple. I was told the only way to not have it affect my phone anymore was to erase my phone and start from scratch. So that is what I did. 

I have been thinking about doing this for years after reading a few blog posts from others before me. I was attracted to how freeing I heard it could be. Also, I clean my home all the time and it felt about time I did the same for my digital world too. 

So currently, I am only re-downloading the apps that matter to me. In the process I will be saying goodbye to several apps. Those of note worthy in both categroies I will mention here. I thought it would be interesting to share which apps are worth keeping in 2016. So without further ado: 

Apps I Am Keeping:

• Dark Sky - Best weather app there is.

• Apple Podcasts - Can't delete but its back on the home screen so Ambition Today is always close!

• Audible - I listen to a lot of books.

• Slack - Immediate access for those close to me and on my teams who know my email inbox can get a bit backed up.

• Todoist - the life saver of to-do list apps.

• Google Maps - Obviously. I tried Apple maps recently in NYC and it took me to the wrong place by about 20 blocks. I was late for that meeting...

• Google Inbox - My lifeline. My go to-email app. If you know a better one you swear by then let me know in the comments.

• Google App - I look up a lot of things. I'm curious, what can I say.

• Google Drive - Are you seeing a theme here?

• Twitter - The best social network there is currently.

• Snapchat - The best up and coming social network. If you need further proof of that, my Mom joined recently. Really loving Snapchat lately.

• Instagram - Just because.

• Nuzzel - I love Nuzzel! It has become the first news app I click each day.

• Yahoo News Digest - When I want to know whats happening in the world outside my immediate industry and networks.

• Fitbit - because health.

• Bitmoji - because fun with friends.

• Giphy - because hilarious with friends.

• Esper - Great platform to track my time and work.

• Robinhood - Why is anyone still paying Scottrade $7 to buy and another $7 to sell?

• Youtube - Loving the content on Youtube recently.

• The Herd Report - You have to have your own app. Plus the Sabres have Eichel now.

• Ward eSports - Best new eSports app for fans there is.

• Timehop - Who doesn't love some personal nostalgia from time to time.

• Buffer - Best app for sharing content across multiple channels. Works with Nuzzel to easily share article I like.

• Venmo - Use it constantly with friends and family.

• Acorns - I didn't want to re-download but it is mobile only so I kind of had to.

• Uber- I live in New York City. Enough said on this one.

Apps I Am Saying Goodbye To:

• Facebook - I turned off badge and push notifications a few weeks ago. Not even going to put it back on my phone this time. I will check in on my laptop when I feel like it.

• Google Chrome - It's just not "that" much better then safari. Don't need it and will give Safari one more chance.

• LinkedIn - Very, very little value comes out of this app that isn't more easily found other places.

• Reddit - Nuzzel has replaced it.

• Periscope - I broadcast from time to time, but I haven't consumed anything of note recently.

• Medium - The best medium posts surface inside Nuzzel. And Medium has been sending way to many push notifications recently anyway.

• Vine - I recently went viral on vine, but still do not think enough people are using it day to day. I never open it.

• Skype - Will probably have to re-download but don't want to.

• Whatsapp - I talk to these friends on iMessage or Facebook Messenger now.

• Facebook Messenger - Will probably have to re-download but don't want to.

• Many, many more - I didn't even re-download any apps from screen 3 or 4 of my phone.

These are the apps I have downloaded while setting my phone back up and the ones that I didn't bring back. I am sure I will have to re-download more apps as I realize I need them and I will do that when the time comes. In the meantime though I feel freed. Most importantly I am excited to see how my phones battery life improves. 

Before and After: Home Screen

Before and After: Screen 2

Ambition Today: Adam Besvinick Teaches The Art of Hustle and How To Break Into Your Dream Role

Adam Besvinick, Principal VENTURE CAPITALIST aT Deep Fork Capital

Venture Capitalist Adam Besvinick explains the value of pure hustle in pursuing his dreams of breaking into the Startup and Venture Capital industry. Recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30, Adam has invested in several startup companies as Principal at Deep Fork Capital. 

In episode 14 we explore where Adam came from and how that connects to where he is now. Adam started blogging on VentureMinded.Me years ago and created his own track record through taking ownership of his brand. He has always strived to be continually helpful and add value to others. Through that hustle he previously worked his way into a role at Lowercase Capital to learn from Chris Sacca. Afterword Adam was one of the early employees at Gumroad while going to Harvard Business School.  Now Adam is Principal at Deep Fork Capital and has invested in several companies across the country, with a focus on New York City and Silicon Valley. We go over what he looks for in great startups, how he used self-marketing to break into venture capital, and also cover: 

• The influences of growing up around entrepreneurship.

• The value of experiencing life abroad.

• How to demonstrate your expertise in a given field.

• Why self-marketing is important.

• How Twitter can create real world connections.

• How constantly being helpful to others, leads to opportunity.

• His experience at Duke and Harvard.

• The differences between Silicon Valley and New York City.

• How being an Investor in New York City is beneficial.

• What Adam looks for in startups today.

• Exploring some of the Deep Fork Capital portfolio companies.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

How important is networking?

Links from this episode: 

• Adam Besvinick

• Deep Fork Capital

• VentureMinded.Me

• From Jefferies to Wanelo: A 2.5-Year “Job Search”

• Gumroad

• Lowercase Capital

• Product Hunt Live Chat with Chris Sacca

• Forbes 30 Under 30

• Rebelmail

• Transfix

• Chalk

• Educents

• VSporto

• EaseCentral

• Passo

• One Concern

• StatMuse

• Vive

• Review Ambition Today

• Ambition Today Stickers

• Founder Institute

• Audible

Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next?  Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android. 

Listen to this episode now: 

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

Ambition Today Is Now On Product Hunt

Ambition Today is on Product Hunt today! The latest episode of Ambition Today #13 is being featured on the podcast section of the website. Thanks to the incredible support of you and other listeners of the show we can make sure Ambition Today rises to the top as the best podcast of the day. If you have a moment visit Episode thirteens page on Product Hunt here. Take a listen if you haven't already and if you like the episode please support it with a simple up-vote. This is a great episode with Alex Konrad of Forbes joining the show. 

Product Hunt is a curation of the best new products, every day. Letting you discover the latest mobile apps, websites, and technology products that everyone's talking about. To check out all the episodes of Ambition Today that are on Product Hunt there is a collection to make it very simple. You can check out the collection here. Thank you again for your constant support of Ambition Today. 

Major Key Alert: Add Krsiskar On Snapchat

If you have been paying attention to the "pathway to more success" then you know Snapchat is a now a Major 🔑Key in the world of social networks. According to the 5 minute mini documentary video above, DJ Khaled (djkhaled305 on snapchat) is now getting between 3-4 million views per every single 10-second snap he sends out. That is two times as many views as a normal episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians, proving that snapchat is no longer just for sending pictures of food to your friends. 

With that I have decided to open up my Snapchat to the public. You can now get more of New York City and Startups by adding "krsiskar" on Snapchat. I'll make it even simpler for you. You can click the button below on your mobile device to add me on Snapchat with one click. And below that is also my Snapcode which you can screenshot and add me by as well. Lastly, if you know any other interesting snapchat accounts that are must adds, go on Snapchat and send me a snap telling me who else I should be checking out! 

Follow Kevin Siskar on Snapchat

How Ideas And Things Spread

Last week someone told me to listen to a new episode from the Ted Radio Hour podcast called "How Things Spread". After listening to Cognitive Neuroscientist Sophie Scott, marketing genius Seth Godin, President Bill Clinton, and more weigh in on the various ways ideas and things spread throughout the world I felt it was worth sharing it was so interesting. By looking at how laughter, viruses, products, death, and the human species itself has spread throughout the world you can start to see the profound and hidden ways all humans are connected. At the basis of all economic, religion, or political systems you will find a powerful and convincing story that enables flexible cooperation of humans beings in large numbers. Tapping into that understanding with your own life and business can be a powerful tool to have. Here is the link to check out "How Things Spread": 

Moving To New York City

New York City. The Big Apple. The Nexus of the Universe. Whatever you call it, it is one of the most unique places on earth and 8.4 Million people call it home. Many of those people moved here from other places in order to pursue their dream. New York City is the promise land of opportunity in the United States. Moving here however is no easy task. Getting a job in New York City without living here makes it next to impossible to get called in for an interview and securing an apartment in the cities crazy real estate market is a whole new world within itself. The city is expensive, the city is unforgiving, and the city is challenging. 

While living in Buffalo I knew that I wanted to move to New York City and that I wanted to get involved with startups there. I applied to jobs for months before actually moving to New York City. The call's I got back for an interview were to come into the office in a day or two, but I was still 600 miles away in Buffalo. I needed to be closer if I was going to make any progress. I flew to New York City on a day in July with Colleen to try and get us an apartment, but we quickly learned we couldn't get approved in a nice building without a job. After viewing a dozen apartments with a broker we finally got approved by a building. We were quickly educated that being as this was July, where apartments can come on the market in the morning and be immediately off the market after lunch we had to decide fast if we wanted an apartment or not. We took it; real estate broker fee, deposit and all. 

A month later we moved to New York City. After struggling just to get into the city I still had to find a job though. I ran out of money shortly after moving to New York City and ended up having to sell my car, which I had payed off while working bartending jobs during college. That only bought me a few more months of runway though. So I took a bartending job that I was able to get through a friend of a friend in Buffalo who happened to do some business in New York City (See Buffalo really is the "The City of Good Neighbors"). The bartending job was part time and still wasn't enough. Again, I was slightly better off than before but not by much. So I took a second job freelancing and working remotely online in the early mornings, writing for a tech website. I was still applying to potential full time jobs and taking interviews in my spare time. The cycle became that I would work bright an early in the morning, then apply to jobs and interview during the day, and finally bartend at night. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I remember distinctly getting down to $20 in my bank account at this time while I would be waiting for my next paycheck to come in from either of the jobs. I was very close to having to move back to Buffalo. After months of this I finally got a full time job offer out of one of the interviews. I still remember being out to lunch. Colleen and I had company in town visiting us. We were talking about how life in New York has been treating us so far while eating cheeseburgers and I got a phone call. It was my future boss saying that the company would love to hire me and asked when I could start. It was an entry level job but it was enough that I could break even, pay my full rent, student loans, and live in New York City. Since that day, there have been hardships and challenges of course, but I am here. I live in New York City. Casey Neistat last year told a very similar story of his struggle in moving to New York City. How moving here can eat you alive and strip you of all your resources in the process. That even just getting set up to live in New York City is one of the greatest challenges people face. 

He explains at the end of the video how it has all been worth it though. How for him the opportunity has out weighed the tremendous cost of moving to New York City in the first place. I have to agree. The opportunities the city has afforded me since then have been tremendous. I get to experience new products, stores, movies, foods, services, and crazes in New York City long before people in other parts of the country. So many experiences. I am always surrounded by ambitious and motivated people here. I feel privileged and love what I get to do now with startups. It was not easy though. So as you can see there is a reason Sinatra once said if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. 

Ambition Today: Alex Konrad of Forbes on Harvard, Media, and Startup Venture Capital

Episode 13 comes to you from New York Offices of Forbes as we are joined by Alex Konrad. Alex is a staff writer at Forbes covering venture capital, startups and enterprise tech. 

Aside from our discussion around Kanye West's recent discovery of Twitter we explore Alex's journey to now. Alex grew up in New York City, then went on to write at the Harvard Crimson before working at Fortune. Alex now is a staff writer at Forbes and also works on the Forbes Midas List, ranking the top Venture Capitalists of the past year, and the Forbes 30 Under 30, highlighting up and coming creative and business people. Today we talk about Harvard, the future of media, startups and venture capital. We cover a lot in this episode. including: 

• Getting into Harvard.

• Working for the Harvard Crimson news and editorial board.

• Why empathy matters so much in today's world.

• How Alex got his start at Fortune working on the Fortune 500.

• The relationship between print and digital articles in 2016.

• When to go outside your "swim lane".

• How to become a real New Yorker?

• The advantages of the New York Tech Scene.

• Writing the Forbes Midas List and Forbes 30 Under 30.

• How large tech companies grow global startup ecosystems.

• What global cities are up and coming for startups.

• Why are the Venture Capital markets slowing down.

• The best way to get media attention for your brand.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

How important is self marketing?

Links from this episode: 

• Alex Konrad at Forbes

• Alex Konrad on Twitter

• Alex Konrad at Fortune

• The Harvard Crimson

• The Future Is Empathy

• Forbes Midas List

• Forbes 30 Under 30

• Fortune 500

• Everything You Need To Know About A Possible Slowdown In Venture Capital Investing

• Ambition Today Stickers

• Founder Institute

• Audible

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android. 

Who should I interview next?  Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below.  It keeps me going…

Listen to this episode now: 

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

The Power Of Saying I Don't Know

Lying, faking, and hiding is rampant. It permeates every industry and every company across the globe. When stress levels hit high enough it can affect any employee in a company. At times executives and founders are the ones that encounter the most stress and can therefore be most guilty of it. It is called imposter syndrome. It turn's out that there is one simple silver bullet answer to this problem and it is saying: 

I don't know. 

These 27 minutes of wisdom and honesty by Meghan Messenger exemplify why Meghan is one of the best leaders out there in 2016. Harvard Business Review just named Next Jump as one of it's only three Deliberately Developmental Organizations. 

It turns out that lying takes twice as much energy in your brain than telling the truth and it is done to avoid being judged. Here is what you can do instead: 

1. Listen: Do not default to just repeating what you have heard, actually listen.
2. Internalize: Personalize what you have just heard to your own life. (Use empathy)
3. Operationalize: Go execute with a real understanding. 

Along with the benefit of actually understanding each unique situation your in, there is one more key advantage as well. When you say "I don't know" you open yourself up to get help and feedback from other people. This is the most powerful benefit to keeping this mentality. It will open you up to new knowledge and therefore help you grow as an individual extremely fast. Check out Meghan's video below to hear the full story and a bit more of the story behind the the power of saying I don't know . 

Note: TP stands for Talking Partner. Its a program where Next Jumpers are paired off and meet daily. These partners develop relationships of trust and help each other grow through advice and support.

The Secret History Of Silicon Valley By Steve Blank

Silicon Valley's name is synonymous with high tech, innovation and startups. But even the great Silicon Valley had to start somewhere and it did so in government secrecy and wartime urgency. Steve Blank tells how Valley sprang out of the technology fight over the skies of Germany and secret efforts around (and over) the Soviet Union. This lecture is a must for those that want to understand how Valley came into being. (Thanks to Jeff Wald for surfacing this video and sharing with me.) 

Founder Institute New York Graduates FINY10

Wednesday February 24th celebrated the graduation of FI NY 10. The tenth batch of the Founder Institute in New York. The Fall 2015 semester in New York's Silicon Alley ends with nine great companies. Of course none of this would be possible with out the incredible lessons, experience, and wisdom brought to the program by our mentors. 

Here are the new companies building a better tomorrow: 

DealGeeks - Drive foot traffic into your business.

Donate Me - Help vetted students go to the college they deserve.

Home-Cooked Dinner Club - Fastest way to a home-cooked meal.

My Citizen Source -  The first U.S. citizenship game.

Paction - Friend to friend marketing platform. 

Pocmi - Connecting companies with international talent.

Ready To Go Survival - Personalized emergency survival packages.

Sofos Labs -  On-demand one-on-one legal experts.

Stareable - Searchable. Shareable. Stareable.

How To Pay Your Annual Delaware Tax For Corporations

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

— Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789

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Learning to pay your taxes as an individual is complicated and confusing. For first time founders, learning how to pay your corporation taxes can be just as confusing. The state of Delaware website has tons of information but it's user experience wasn't exactly designed by Jony Ive. With the Delaware annual filing deadline coming up the question of what is going on here is a something I am hearing a few times from first time founders.

To offer some guidance I wanted to gather all the information and links you need understand filing your Delaware Corporations Annual Report and paying it's due taxes. The Delaware annual report due date to file without late fee's is before the March 1st deadline annually. 

Disclaimer: I offer this post only as helpful guidance as I am not a lawyer or certified accountant. You should still research on your own and consult your accountant if you are uncertain of the process for paying a Delaware C-Corporation Annual Tax. 

This information will help Delaware C Corporations file their "Annual Franchise Tax Report" and pay the amount due. Please note that the online portal to file and pay your Delaware taxes is not open 24/7, therefore you should not wait to the last minute to file. It is open between 8:00am and 11:45pm Eastern Time. For filling your Federal Annual Report with the United States IRS please note it is a separate process from the below.  

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FILE YOUR DELAWARE ANNUAL TAX REPORT AND PAY BUSINESS ENTITY TAX

• Go to the Pay Taxes page on the Delaware Division of Corporations website: https://corp.delaware.gov/paytaxes.shtml

  • Review and understand that there are two methods of calculating the Delaware annual franchise tax tax that is due. One is "Authorized Shares Method" and the other is "Assumed Par Value Capital Method". They are both explained here: https://corp.delaware.gov/frtaxcalc.shtml. I will be showing you the "Assumed Par Value Capital Method".

• On the Pay Taxes page click "Pay Taxes/File Annual Report"

• Enter 7 digit Business Entity File Number. If you are not sure what your is you can search for it. When inputted press continue.

• Click "File Annual Report" for the year you are filing for.

• You will now see the "Annual Franchise Tax Report" for you to fill out.

• If you applied for (link here) and have received a Federal Employer Id Number or EIN (for short) put that in the "Federal Employer Id" field. It is not required though for state taxes, so don't worry if you don't have one.

• On the top right you will see the Franchise Tax amount. It will most likely default to $180,000 (the most your taxes can be in Delaware, $400 is the minimum). Don't worry again as you will most likely recalculate this amount while filling out the report.

• Below that you will see the Stock Information that Delaware has on file for the company. This is where your most up to date capitalization table is going to be useful for you to reference. You are going to need to know the number of "Issued Shares". Look it up on your cap table and input it.

• Now input the "Gross Assets" of the company. The Division of Corporations FAQ page gives some information on how to report this.

• Put in the "End Date for the Companies Fiscal Year". Most likely 12/31/YYYY.

• Include "Any relevant Dates of Inactivity" for the company.

• Click "Recalculate Tax".

  • The amount of Franchise Tax due on the top right of the report should have now updated to a new dollar amount.

• Now finish filling out the form by adding:

  • Principal Place of Business: address, phone, and e-mail

  • Appointed Officers: name, title, and address

  • Directors: name and address

  • Authorization Section: date, name, title, and address

• Check over all the information you have input to ensure its accuracy.

• Read the terms and conditions and then check the box confirming you have done so.

• Press "Continue Filing".

• Review the copy of the information you entered.

• I highly recommend you print a copy of the information you entered for your records. You will thank yourself when you have that information handy one year from now to reference.

• Proceed to payment.

• Enter your payment information.

• Submit.

And you are done! You have now paid your Delaware Franchise Tax and filed your C-Corp’s Annual Report. If you still have questions the FAQ page from Delaware Division of Corporations can be found here and maybe helpful: https://corp.delaware.gov/taxfaq.shtml. If you still have questions or see any mistakes in the above, please put them in the comments below. Between either myself and the combined wisdom of all the other readers I am sure an answer is only a link away. 

Some Thoughts On Tidal And Kanye

I love Spotify. I became a user in England about a year before anyone in the United States even had access to the service. I have been a paid user ever since. 

Last year two new popular services came about. Apple Music and Tidal. In regards to the first, after seeing how Apple butchered my existing Music library on my iPhone with iOS 9 I have yet to try Apple Music. As for the second service, Tidal came along in the uniquest of ways. 

Mimicking the founding fathers signing the Declaration of Independence, Tidal lined up several Artists on a stage and had each of them sign the companies constitution. It was meant to be symbolically powerful but it didn't seem like the music industry revolution as it was intended. It was missing something. 

The Tidal Declaration came across as "tech ignorant". If that isn't a term yet, I'm coining it now. While already successful artists can build a walled garden around exclusivity of future releases, there is much more to building a successful product then simply access to exclusivity.

A year later that core thesis is being put the test. Exclusive album releases by Rihanna most recently and this week by Kanye West with his new album "The Life Of Pablo".

My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale... You can only get it on Tidal.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016

I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt... Please pray we overcome... This is my true heart...

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 14, 2016

And since declaring this his album a Tidal exclusive it has been pirated over half a million times. For a man who is supposedly $53 million dollars in "debt", I am curious as the amount of money that a Tidal exclusive release leaves on the table from other potential platforms and CD releases. So a year later after Tidal's big release here we are. I didn't want to. I really didn't. But after seeing Tidal rise in the app store this week I have downloaded the app. I am currently listening to Kanye West's "The Life Of Pablo" in HiFi. Here are my thoughts in no particular order. 

When I left iTunes for Spotify it was because I could listen to any song I could think of on the spot. Instant streaming was a exponential increase in value over paying per song in iTunes and from what people have told me it was easier than downloading an album. I signed up for premium Spotify shortly thereafter to remove all commercials. I used both for a bit, as I had spent years building my iTunes library, but eventually I fully switched to Spotify. Years later I now have that same vested interested in my Spotify library of saved songs and playlists as I once had with iTunes.

Tidal's high quality HiFi music quality is not enough for me to make the switch though. Album exclusivity is not enough for me switch either. The album has been dying for awhile now and society is moving toward a constant release of singles every few months. Playlists are replacing the album. The value increase over my existing preference is simply not yet high enough. Lastly, "The Life Of Pablo" is an interesting album to say the least. I think I prefer Dr. West though over the new Ultra Light Beam of Yeezus. To end my mostly skeptical thoughts of Tidal on a positive note though, is that If there is one person who can make sense of Tidal perhaps it's the one currently Watching The Throne. 

Ambition Today: Avi Yashchin of Clean Edison Talks Having His Company Acquired, Data Science And Clean Energy

The sounds of science are ringing through episode 12 of Ambition Today when Avi Yashchin comes on the show. Avi is the founder of Clean Edison, the nation's largest sustainable energy education and training firm in the US. for those seeking to enter the Solar, Wind, and larger Energy space.

Avi had a fascinating front row seat to the great recession in 2008 while employed by Lehman Brothers and his story is quite incredible. The lessons and uncertainty created from being inside a failing company led Avi to afterword, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, found Clean Edison. In this episode we talk about his story growing and eventually having Clean Edison acquired by Kaplan. Also data science, the future of energy, and even more science: 

• How going to Rocket School as a kid impacted Avi.

• Starting a career in New York in late 2001.

• What the Great Recession looked like from the inside of Lehman Brothers.

• What to do if you have multiple ideas to start multiple different businesses.

• Having Clean Edison was acquired by Kaplan.

• Finding the right partners that compliment your business.

• The importance of building a business with recurring revenue.

• Why data science is cool.

• How the declining cost of data is going to impact the world.

• The future of clean energy.

• The future of the planet.

Ambition Today Question of the Day:

Do you always have “an ask” ready everyday just in case you meet the right person to answer it?

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS and on Stitcher for Android. 

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Links from this episode: 

• Founder Institute

• Audible

• Avi Yashchin

• Lehman Brothers

• Clean Edison

• Kaplan

• Earth Carbon Dioxide Levels

• 23 & Me

Who should I interview next?  Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below.  It keeps me going…

Listen to this episode now: 

Ambition Today Podcast Sponsors:

Audible.com

Founder Institute New York

When Business Growth Creates New Challenges

The funny thing about growth is that it can be a double edged sword. As a founder it is your job to drive and create growth for your company. After all the hard work, eventual growth in your company is the result of over coming each early obstacle. But at the very same time growth can then immediately create new obstacles.

This happens because growth brings with it additional challenges that your company may not have experienced before. On one side you should be celebrating that recent growth has led demand to increase beyond your wildest dreams. At the very same moment though your company is reaching the maximum capacity of your existing processes and current team capabilities. 

This is one of the reasons entrepreneurship is a constant uphill battle. As an entrepreneur it is your job to keep problem solving new challenges over and over. Knowing this is one of the reasons we place such a high value on High Fluid Intelligence at the Founder Institute when evaluating new potential founders applying to the program. Can you quickly learn a rule set and apply it to solve a novel problem? With a constantly changing playing field, founders must recognize patterns and quickly adapt to survive.

The best founders have high fluid intelligence. They use it to quickly recognize the new obstacles growth has challenged them with, analyze, adapt and solve them. Ensuring that as the founder you are problem solving over and over is the path to increased growth and success for your business.

In order to prevent this repetitive cycle from becoming too daunting though it is important that throughout this process you make sure to remember to take a a brief moment to celebrate the wins as they come, or they may just quickly pass you by. 

Mise En Place Featured In Gilt City New York

This week is quickly turning into the week of startup companies on this blog and here comes another one. Starting today Founder Institute New York graduate company Mise En Place has launched an exclusive deal going on with Gilt City right now!

If you live in New York City and haven't tried a meal delivery service before (or even if you have tried Blue Apron and then realized its prep times take FOREVER) then Mise En Place is probably for you. I personally have tried both Blue Apron and Mise En Place and much prefer the simplicity and high quality meals Mise En Place provides. 

MEPnyc for short, Mise En Place is working to bring families back around the dinner table by providing fully prepped meals for two, that are available with same day delivery. There are a few options for you to give Mise En Place a try through Gilt City before February 19th. I suggest grabbing the "$25 Credit Toward Three Meals for Two" for $5 or at the very least make sure you grab the FREE "$15 Credit Toward Three Meals for Two" before the deal ends! 

• $15 Credit Toward Three Meals for Two - Free
• $25 Credit Toward Three Meals for Two - $5
• Two Meals for Two Membership - $44
• Three Meals for Two Membership - $66

Easy Aerial On "All-American Makers" This Wednesday

Last week I featured Easy Aerial as the Startup Of The Week. Today I am super-excited to announce that Easy Aerial will be featured this Wednesday at 8PM EST on Discovery's Science Channel during this weeks episode of "All-American Makers".

Easy Aerial's latest product, Easy Drone XL Pro, was chosen to be featured in the second season and Ivan, founder and CEO of Easy Aerial, claims to have put it through some rough testing on the show! So set your DVR or tune in Wednesday night to join the Founder Institute New York family as we look into the unique design features of Easy Aerial's modular approach while exploring the future of drones as smart and helpful autonomous machines.

The Coronation of King Siskar

Just need to fix the URL of this post before we get going here. Click here to fix this now and then you can keep reading! - Much better now! 

By the time you are reading this the 1:39pm EST Coronation has most likely come and gone. I Kevin Siskar, am now a King. Of an actual kingdom and an actual Castle in Ireland. You might be thinking to yourself: "I had no idea you were descended from Royalty Kevin?". 

Well the truth is me either. And to the best of my knowledge I am still not descended from Royalty. I am however now and forever a King. And I have some decrees to make before I explain to you how I found myself having the crown thrust upon my head. 

King Siskar's Royal Decrees. 

1. You must listen to the "Ambition Today" Podcast. You can find it here: http://www.siskar.co/ambitiontoday
2. All people need to hence forth refer to me as King Siskar, Kevin Rex, or Your Royal Highness.
3. One day I will own another castle. Once a King, Always a King. See you then.

As you can see I am having a lot of fun with this. This all started last year when I paid $15 to Cards Against Humanity for their Holiday Bullshit giveaway. The final gift of the promotion in 2014 was 1 square foot land on a Private Island named Hawaii 2 located up in Maine. Along with rights of that 1 square foot also came rights to use of the entire island. Thanks to that campaign I now own part of a private island! (See isn't this fun!) 

Naturally happy with the amount of fun that Cards Against Humanity generated with the $15 I gave them the year before, when I saw the 2015 holiday promotion I jumped on it right away. The first two gifts I got were socks. The third gift was also socks. Soon after followed a social experiment with laser cutting an original Picasso. For the final gift of the 2015 Holiday promotion Cards Against Humanity used a portion of the $15 from the 250,000 people that signed up to buy a Castle in Ireland. Yes, an actual Castle! 

Then they built a program around that Castle. Coronating it's customers one by one as actual Kings and Queens of this actual castle. They built a website to see at all time who sits a top the rocky throne of Sensible Castle. They enabled the ability for each King or Queen to make 3 decrees during their time as rightful ruler that would be entered in to the Kingdom's laws. And lastly each King and Queen will have their name etched within the castle walls so that generations to come can remember the great rulers who righteously spent their 3 minutes as King.

So there you have it. You can now call me King Siskar whenever you want. I am having A LOT of fun with this with my friends and family. I love the history around Royalty ever since I lived in London. My younger brothers have jokingly threatened to steal the crown once or twice already. 

I actually think there is a startup lesson in here too though. I am spending a lot of time and energy talking about Cards Against Humanity. It is all because of this awesome experience I have had with them over and over again. It could possible be the best $15 I have ever spent. The amount of creativity in this company is unreal. The result of that creative culture is extremely satisfied customers and organic virality.  

The island last year only cost them $200k which is much smaller than most corporate marketing budgets. Next time you plan to go dump your marketing budget in Facebook or Google ads in hopes of "going viral" stop and think to your self, is there a better, scrappier, cooler way to get the return on that money you are truly looking for. A concept that is actually worthy of "going viral". I should note that since the 2014 promotion I have spent money to also become a customer of Cards Against Humanities normal product, it's card game. I have bought it for both friends and family as gifts. I have transcended from a customer to a brand evangelist. That is the lesson here. 

Most importantly getting back to fun of today, just remember:

Once a King, Always a King!!!