Yeah! Happy tax day.
Most people don’t celebrate this, but I do. I’m willing to pay taxes for good roads and good education and the like. It’s not a terrible deal at all. It helps that I’m getting money back again this year. Actually, in 30+ years of donating to the government, I have only failed to get a refund twice. Not too bad!
I must admit that I was really worried about this year because this tax year was the year that my former company let me go. And while it might sound like I spent the year penniless, nothing could be further from the truth: I actually parted with three month’s salary and a boat load of stock options that I had to cash out. I also didn’t do too bad on the consulting front. I set a new (never to be repeated) record for income in 2011.
2012 should be very different from 2011. Four months into the year so far and I have $0 for income. I will get a small amount of cash for a chip I did earlier this year, and I’ll get this tax return, but that could be it for the year unless my startup gets some funding. Will all consulting dry up? Will my startup fold? I don’t see that happening. Too many people are interested in us; though most seem to want to take over the company as part of their funding strategy. I continue to be interested in the outcome of all this. I’m hoping that cash will present itself and that we’ll be able to run this startup first to profitability and then to IPO.