Gen Z Founders Now Outnumber Baby Boomers in New Business Starts — Here's the Launch Playbook
Gen Z started 9% of new US businesses in 2025 vs 5% for Boomers; 60% of founders used AI to launch. Five money moves for leaner year-one startups.
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Founder Resources
Financial resources and tools for startup founders
Startup SPVs Explained: How Special Purpose Vehicles Keep Your Cap Table Clean
An SPV pools many angel checks into one LLC and one cap-table line; backers pay 10–20% carry plus setup fees, and the lead votes the whole block.
Venture Debt for Early-Stage Startups: Borrow Runway Without Selling the Company
U.S. startups borrowed a record $68.8B of venture debt in 2025. Warrants cost 1-5% dilution, but covenant breaches - not missed payments - trigger most defaults
The IRS's New Form 15620 for 83(b) Elections: What Startup Founders Need to Know About Filing Online in 2026
Form 15620 can now be submitted through an IRS Online Account, but the 83(b) election's 30-day deadline still has no routine extension. How the election works, when it pays, how to file online or by certified mail, and the six mistakes that sink it.
Elder Financial Exploitation: A Business Owner's Guide to Protecting Aging Parents' Money
Banks tied roughly $27 billion in suspicious activity to elder financial exploitation in the year ending June 2023, per FinCEN. A practical guide for business owners — the five scams draining parents' accounts, the warning signs to watch in their finances, how to get read-only visibility without starting a family fight, and the bookkeeping rules that protect you if you end up holding the power of attorney.
Your QSBS Win Is Federal-Only in California: What Founders Owe the State on a 'Tax-Free' Exit
California does not conform to Section 1202, so a QSBS gain that is 100% excluded federally is taxed in full at state rates up to 13.3% — a $4 million exit can leave a founder owing roughly $350,000–$450,000 to Sacramento. This guide covers the 2025 QSBS expansion's new three- and four-year tiers, why California repealed its own exclusion, the real math on graduated brackets and the 1% surcharge, and what an FTB residency audit demands from founders who move before selling.
Section 1202 QSBS After the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Tiered Holding Periods, the $15 Million Cap, and Trust Stacking
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rewrote Section 1202 QSBS — a tiered 50/75/100% gain exclusion at three, four, and five years; a $15 million per-issuer cap; a $75 million gross asset threshold at issuance; and non-grantor trust stacking that can lift a founder's combined exclusion well past the single-taxpayer limit.
Section 1202 QSBS Exclusion: A Founder's Guide to $15 Million in Tax-Free Gains
Section 1202 lets founders, early employees, and angel investors exclude up to $15 million of capital gains from federal tax. This guide covers the OBBBA changes, the five eligibility gates, the new 3/4/5-year tiered holding period, Section 1045 rollovers, and stacking strategies that multiply the per-issuer cap across family members and non-grantor trusts.
Regulation Crowdfunding: How Founders Raise Up to $5 Million From the Public Without Hiring Wall Street
Reg CF lets non-reporting U.S. companies sell securities to the public up to $5 million per rolling 12 months through an SEC-registered funding portal. This guide walks through the $124,000 investor limits, Form C disclosure, bad-actor checks, tombstone advertising, ongoing C-U and C-AR filings, and the bookkeeping for SAFEs, offering costs, and escrow that founders most often get wrong.
How the OBBBA's Tiered QSBS Exclusion Changes the Math for Founders, Employees, and Angels
The OBBBA raised the Section 1202 QSBS cap to $15 million, lifted the gross-asset ceiling to $75 million, and replaced the five-year cliff with a tiered 50/75/100 percent exclusion at three, four, and five years — but only for stock issued after July 4, 2025.
The 30-Day Decision That Can Save Founders Millions: A Plain-English Guide to the Section 83(b) Election
A Section 83(b) election lets founders and early employees pay ordinary income tax today on the full value of restricted stock instead of at each vest. Filed within 30 days on IRS Form 15620, it can convert millions of phantom ordinary income into long-term capital gain and start the QSBS holding clock on day one.
Regulation D Rule 506(b) vs Rule 506(c): How Founders Pick Between the Quiet Round and the Public Pitch in 2026
Rule 506(b) and Rule 506(c) of Regulation D both allow uncapped private placements but differ sharply on marketing and verification. 506(b) bans general solicitation and permits up to 35 sophisticated non-accredited investors on a reasonable-belief standard; 506(c) permits public solicitation but requires reasonable steps to verify every purchaser is accredited. A March 2025 SEC no-action letter lets issuers rely on $200,000+ individual or $1 million+ entity minimum checks as the primary verification step.