As a small business owner, it can be challenging to prove to a lender that you are a safe enough credit risk to lend hundreds of thousands of dollars to. However, that is not to say it is impossible. For most small business owners, the mortgage process just comes down to properly establishing yourself on paper, paying yourself regularly, and keeping detailed records of everything coming in and going out of your bank account.
On this episode of Office Hours, Malcolm & Desiree sit down to discuss the challenges and the solutions facing small business owners looking to purchase a new home or refinance an existing mortgage.
In a sales role, you are responsible for your own success. You get the opportunity to make your own schedule, meet interesting people and travel to new places.
However, a role in sales might not always be easy.
In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge is joined by Ryan Jones, enterprise sales director for Microsoft, as they discuss the role of sales in the tech industry. Ryan gives some background on his experiences, and how we found his passion for sales.
Ryan’s passion is helping individuals and organizations achieve more with innovative technology solutions. Ryan helps his clients leverage technology to create new revenue and improve control of operational expenses. Ryan has Extensive experience achieving mission critical goals and improving operational processes for Enterprise and Federal clientele while delivering positive and rapid ROI.
When you think of the founder of a tech company, your mind tends to immediately picture an engineer in a hoodie hunched over a laptop coding into the wee hours of the night.
But for the founders of some of the largest tech companies that you know and love, this isn’t the case. It is possible to launch and scale a tech company with little technical expertise.
In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge sits down with Hassan Riggs, founder, and CEO of Smart Alto, as they speak about Hassan’s experience building his tech company with a marketing background. Hassan recalls his own experiences and offers some advice for anyone who wants to take the leap of faith and pursue their big idea.
Hassan discusses:
What he recognized was missing in the real estate industry that led him to create Smart Alto
Using clock time versus calendar time to decide when to start a business
Using a market-product fit rather than a product-market fit
Tools and tactics you can use to build and maintain great relationships
Advice on how to get past mental blockage limiting you from starting something
According to a study by Rutgers Institute, 24% of male employees hold employer stock options while only 17% of female employees do.
Looking at it from a dollars and cents perspective, in 2018, the average value of a stock option for a male employee was $104,902 compared to $26,361 for a woman.
These staggering numbers made it imperative to jump back into our series on stock compensation much sooner than planned. In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge is joined by Brooke Harley, founder and CEO of Class Rebel, as they talk about the gender disparity in owning equity, and how to negotiate for more.
Brooke discusses:
The advantage individuals who attended elite colleges have when raising money for their startups
Why she’s always focused negotiations on how much equity she’d receive over salary compensation
The idea that it might be easier to negotiate with your employer for more stock rather than cash when going up for a promotion
Courses that Class Rebel is introducing to help women understand how to negotiate their equity package
Reasons that women might be overlooked or offered less when it comes to stock options
Before launching ClassRebel, Brooke Harley founded a venture fund in 2014, raising $32 million from 50 consumer industry founders, CEOs and executives for investment in early stage brands. She has evaluated hundreds of private investments.
We have been at this podcast for a while now, and are constantly bringing you new topics that relate to your personal finances.
With that, comes a lot of listener questions; we are sure that there are lots of people who are questioning the same things. We encourage you to send in your questions and comments to podcast@tech-money.com
In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge answers some of the most common and timely questions he has been asked over the first season of Tech Money. Malcolm aims to provide answers from both the industry and personal level.
Malcolm discusses:
Approaching your children with conversations about money
Tools and publications that will allow you to stay up to date on what is happening in the financial world
How he stays organized and meets his goals
Financial advice from reflecting on his own decisions
There are ways that you can access the value of your concentrated stock positions and avoid the huge tax bill.
In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge sits down with Anthony LoBalbo, regional manager with Schwab Bank, as they discuss the securities backed line of credit. Malcolm and Anthony discuss how it works and how you could be taking advantage of it yourself.
Anthony discusses:
Situations when having an S Block makes sense
The application process and how long it takes to have the line open and available
How amount extended through the line is determined
Interesting ways that this line of credit has been used in the past
Taxes are something that we will never be able to fully avoid, so it is imperative that we understand how they are going to impact all aspects of our finances, and prepare to manage them to pay as little as possible.
In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge is joined by Megan Gorman, founder and managing partner of Chequers Financial, as they discuss the tax implications of managing your employer stock and options. Megan helps educate you on the things your employer might not, so you can be prepared to make the best decisions for your situation.
Megan discusses:
Her passion for working with taxes and stock options
Advice for how individuals can see the bigger picture when it comes to taxes
How the 10b5-1 fits into tax planning with employer stock options
Megan is the founding partner of Chequers Financial Management, a fee-only planning firm that specializes in high net worth and ultra-high net worth families in San Francisco, California. Chequers focuses on establishing long term relationships with families and helps them navigate through tax, estate, liquidity and investment planning. Megan heads the firm’s family office services practice.
Oftentimes, there is a significant gap between the information that companies who offer stock based comp to their employees think they are providing versus the amount of information those employees feel that they receive. And this information gap can make it hard to know which end is up.
In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge is joined with Bruce Brumberg, co-founder and editor in chief of MyStockOptions.com, as they discuss some of the financial planning rules of thumb when it comes to stock options. Malcolm and Bruce go deep on some of the more technical factors that plan participants should consider before making decisions regarding their equity comp.
Bruce discusses:
Setting goals to manage equity comp
The importance of learning what happens when you leave your company and telling your family members
Exceptions to the standard rule of waiting as long as possible to exercise your stock options
Bruce Brumberg has devoted most of his professional career to making complex legal and tax concepts understandable to people who do not enjoy reading the securities laws or the Internal Revenue Code. In myStockOptions.com, Bruce created the premier source of web-based educational content and tools on stock compensation (stock options, restricted stock, and employee stock purchase plans) for plan participants, financial advisors, and companies. The creation and management of the website combine Bruce’s in-depth understanding of stock plans with his proven ability to present and explain complex legal, financial, human-resource, and compensation topics using innovative techniques.
Your equity compensation can have an outsized impact on your overall portfolio, so it is key to set your strategy ahead of time and find tools that will help you stick to your plan to diversify.
In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge sits down with Bill Dillhoefer, CEO of Net Worth Strategies Inc, as they discuss the importance of diversification when managing employer stock and options. Bill introduces his platform, StockOpter.com, and how it helps financial planning professionals make decisions on behalf of clients who are paid in equity.
Bill Dillhoefer discusses:
The information gap between employers and their employees who are paid in equity, and why it exists
The importance of reviewing and understanding the grant document
Forfeiture value and why you need to understand it
How concentration risk impacts your employer stocks and options
How to set a strategy to diversify a concentrated equity position
The president and CEO of Net Worth Strategies, Bill DIllhoefer has been with the firm since 2000 and became its CEO in January 2018. His firm provides professional equity compensation risk analysis and tax planning tools. Bill is responsible for all business and product development activities for their industry acclaimed “StockOpter” platforms. His goal is to help advisors and their clients make timely, informed, and profitable company stock and option decisions.
Navigating the world of equity compensation can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to. As a participant in an equity compensation plan, a good place to start is by getting acquainted with your plan document and its various terms and conditions.
In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge is joined by Amy Reback, head of Charles Schwab stock plan services, as they discuss the basics of equity compensation. Amy shares rules of thumb and other helpful information that every plan participant needs to know about their equity compensation.
Amy discusses:
The recent trend of more companies offering stock plans to their employees
The employer versus the employee when it comes to stock equity
How the employee stock purchase plans works and how it differs from other stock plans
Recommendations stock participants should be following
As Vice President and General Manager of Stock Plan Services, Amy is personally committed to helping ensure client satisfaction. Charles Schwab’s goal is to help stock plan sponsors generate employee pride about being invested in their company. By providing flexible support for employee stock purchase plans and equity awards, the team at Schwab is dedicated to meeting the needs of our plans sponsor clients by offering a range of plan options.
