(Source: Love With Food)

I recently turned 35. It’s probably safe to say I’ve reached my mid-life. Given how much I love fried chicken, living past 70 would be a bonus :)

Why a free woman? Because not every woman in this world is free to live their lives. Everyday I’m thankful that I don’t have to hide behind a burqa, I can drive, I can work and I can fall in love. Simple pleasures that enrich our everyday lives shouldn’t be taken for granted. These are the things women in certain nations yearn for but may not ever experience them in their lifetime. Everyday, I’m thankful that I have a free life and not one for sale.

I’m a fervent reader of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project , a volunteer organization that empowers Afghan women to have a voice, a voice that’s not censored or filtered, a voice with it’s own rights. Life of an Afghan woman is beyond hard and yet these women fight tenaciously to live everyday. Many stories are heart-wrenching and many have brought tears to my eyes. One especially, which I bookmarked. The title reads “I Am For Sale, Who Will Buy Me?”. This young woman was forced to marry a 40 year old man and the only way out was to buy her freedom.

In a perfect world, when you are born, freedom should be part of the package. Apparently, in certain countries like Afghanistan, freedom comes with a price tag, a woman’s life is priced like a piece of meat in the market. It’s absolutely outrageous and makes me so furious. I am SO thankful that I was born in a modern world (Singapore) and I now live in a modern world (U.S.) and in a modern world, freedom and equality is a basic human right.

While Afghan women have to find secret ways to write and have their voices heard by the world, we in Silicon Valley are arguing and debating on the topic on why there are so few women in tech. Just because someone noticed the ratio of women vs. men in tech is 4:1, finger pointing began and created a nonsensical talking point out of it.

Fact: When I was a undergrad Computer Science student, there were more boys than girls.
Fact: When I go to a Ruby meetup, there are more pizza than girls.
Fact: I’m in technology, running a startup, and have no babies because it’s my choice.

It’s not a blaming game and I agree with Michael Arrington when he wrote “Too Few Women In Tech? Stop Blaming The Men.” While it’s not a good sample size, but at my age, most of my friends already have at least 2 kids and I’m the only one running a startup. There is some truth to what Penelope Trunk wrote “Women Don’t Want To Run Startups Because They’d Rather Have Children”.

Whether women choose to be in tech, it’s a choice. Whether we choose to be mothers, it’s a choice. Whether we choose to do both at the same time, it’s still a choice. At the end of the day, we have choices in our modern world. We are free to make any decision that’s best for our lives, because we are free women. Be thankful and celebrate.

Photo source: Kawetijoru

Part of bootstrapping a startup is to learn every aspect of running a business, from paying taxes to SEO, from social media to server setup! In a nutshell, do it all yourself!

One of the most confusing things is paying taxes and there are so many datelines. It’s SO important not to miss a dateline because IRS is seizing every moment to fine you a penalty.

These are important datelines for a Delaware Corporation run in the State of CA.

Mar 1st
State of Delaware - Due date to file an Annual Report and pay franchise tax
http://corp.delaware.gov/frtax.shtml

There are 2 ways to calculate Delaware franchise tax. Most corporations would use the Assumed Par Value Capital Method unless their authorized shares have no par value.

In order to use the Assumed Par Value Capital Method, you’ll need 3 important numbers

- Total Gross Assets,

- Total Authorized Shares (aka maximum number of shares a company can issue)

- Par value of the authorized shares.

Total Gross Assets is the “total assets” reported on the U.S. Form 1120, Schedule L (Federal Tax Return form) for the relevant tax year.

Because of this, it’s essential to get Corporate Tax (both Federal and State) completed before Mar 1st even though the dateline to file Corporate Tax is Mar 15.

DE Quarterly Tax Due Dates

If DE taxes is $5,000 or more, then quarterly taxes are due on 6/1, 9/1, 12/1, 3/1
 

Federal and State Quarterly Tax Due Dates
Quarterly taxes are due 4/15, 6/15, 9/15, 12/15

Where to pay online?
Delaware Franchise Tax - http://corp.delaware.gov/achChgInfo.shtml
Federal Tax, EFTPS Online - https://www.eftps.gov/eftps/
It’s cool that you can schedule federal quarterly tax deduction in advance so that you can set it up once and forget about it for the year.
California Franchise Tax - http://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/payment_choices.shtml

My corporation didn’t make any money, do I still have to pay and file taxes?

YES, you do! Even when the corporation makes a loss, it’s mandatory to pay CA and DE minimum franchise tax. As of writing, here are the minimums:

CA - $800 franchise tax

DE - $75 franchise tax + $50 annual filing fee 

Photo By: alancleaver_2000