Featured Stories
Selling an Edtech Business: The PositivePsychology.com Exit
PositivePsychology.com, a mission-driven edtech platform used by 19M+ professionals, was acquired in an 8-figure deal advised by FE International. This case study covers their growth, decision to sell, and the exit process.
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Amazon Adjusts Tax Code for Third-Party Sellers: Newsletter November 17, 2017
Amazon has announced this week that beginning January 1, third party merchants will be required to collect sales tax on products purchased by consumers in Washington. Currently, due to a loophole in legislation, tax collection on third-party Amazon sales are left to the seller’s discretion. Now, Amazon will be managing the collection of sales tax on products sold by third-party merchants to customers in Washington, with other states expected to follow closely behind this precedent set by Amazon’s home state. E-commerce owners who sell on Amazon will want to reevaluate their cost structure to ensure that a raise in prices due to sales taxes will not deter their current customer base.
QuickBooks Capital Loans to Small Businesses: Newsletter November 10, 2017
Intuit announced their new initiative, QuickBooks Capital, a small business lending service powered by artificial intelligence technology. QuickBooks Capital is a response to the struggle many small businesses face of getting approved for loans due to a short financial history. With 26 billion data points to inform their algorithm, the program combs through a small business’s financial data to determine the probability that future cash flow will be sufficient to repay a loan. Small businesses can apply for loans up to $35,000 for now, backed by QuickBooks itself, and should expect low rates according to the head of QuickBooks Capital, Rania Succar.
Trump Administration Releases New Tax Plan: Newsletter November 3, 2017
Yesterday, the Trump administration released their proposed tax reform bill. It contains several proposed changes to the current tax legislation, with the key points for business owners being that the tax brackets will be simplified from 7 to 4 income groups, standard deductions are nearly doubled and corporate tax is cut from 35% to 20%. Though the tax plan does not address all points that have been suggested by GOP legislators, the proposal would help small business owners significantly, as they would see their tax rate cut nearly in half. Kevin Brady, author of the bill and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, hopes to get the bill passed through the House by Thanksgiving, though the bill as it currently stands will likely be edited over the weekend before it faces a scheduled markup by the Ways and Means Committee on Monday. Read below for more details on the proposed bill.
FE International Acquires iAcquisitions: Newsletter October 27, 2017
We are thrilled to announce that FE International has successfully completed the acquisition of iAcquisitions, a leading privately held e-commerce mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory firm.
Kohl’s to Accept Amazon Returns at 10 Stores: Newsletter October 20, 2017
Kohl’s has announced a partnership with Amazon in a new initiative allowing customers to return Amazon purchases in 10 of their stores in Chicago and LA. Not to be outdone by Walmart’s announcement last week that they would be accepting returns for online purchases in-store, Amazon is once again leveraging its colossal sales engine to create new partnerships to combat the existing offline distribution Walmart has. This one comes right before the holidays, and will likely be a leading indicator of whether consumers value the ability to return items in store, and whether this will drive more in-person purchases for Kohl’s, a reputed holiday retail giant.
Amazon Third-Party Merchants Required to Add Sales Tax: Newsletter October 13, 2017
Following the end of the sales tax amnesty, many of Amazon’s third-party merchants will be required to add sales tax to their products. Recently, states are cracking down on Amazon merchants, mandating the addition of sales taxes to previously untaxed products to combat an e-commerce nexus precedent set 25 years ago. These new requirements come right before the busiest shopping season of the year, so with these new stringent sales tax requirements, e-commerce owners who sell through Amazon will want to ensure they comply with new regulations.
Citron Research Claims Shopify in Violation of FTC Business Opportunities Act: Newsletter October 6, 2017
Shopify’s shares fell c.15.6% between Monday’s close and the end of trading yesterday. The heavy fall comes off the back of the research note released by Citron, which claims the company is in violation of the FTC Business Opportunities Act. The report argues that Shopify makes too many bold claims that entrepreneurs can become millionaires in an incredibly short period of time, and that it doesn’t disclose when they pay affiliate marketers and influencers who refer others to Shopify.
Shopify Launches Publishing Partner Program: Newsletter September 29, 2017
Shopify announced this week that it will now allow merchants to earn revenue through their partner program in an effort to leverage the many third-party Shopify service providers in the market. Users of the program can earn money through affiliate links, merchant referrals, apps, and themes on the Shopify store. Business owners who use Shopify might want to strongly consider the partner program as a passive form of extra income. Read below for more information on how to sign up.
HubSpot Acquires Motion AI: Newsletter September 22, 2017
The SaaS world this week saw HubSpot acquire the chatbot builder Motion AI, which provides an editor for websites to build a chat function through Facebook, Slack, SMS and more. While the terms of the deal were not released, this should come as an indicator that AI will be incredibly important for companies gaining a competitive edge on their customer service. Equally disruptive in the tech space this week is Uber’s expulsion from London, as Transport for London announced this morning that they will not be renewing their license at the end of this month. Read below for the full story.
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