Social Security Payroll Tax Holiday 2011

For 2011 only, there is a minor payroll tax holiday, where the employee half of Social Security tax will be paid out of the U.S. federal government's general fund, instead of deducted from employees' paychecks. This is part of the overall tax compromise bill, which Congress passed, extending the Bush tax cuts for two years, as well as adding this tax cut.

Employees will pay 4.2% of their wage earnings up to the $106,800 cap, instead of the normal 6.2% rate. Employers still pay their full half (6.2%). The self-employed, who normally pay both halves of the Social Security tax through the self-employment tax, will pay a combined rate of 10.4% (the employer's 6.2%, plus the employee's 4.2% rates).

To a minor extent, this limited payroll tax holiday - which is designed to spur consumer spending - will ameliorate some of the benefits of S corporation payroll tax savings.

AngelPool - First Deal Syndication Meeting Recap

We had the first of, hopefully, many regional web conferences among the southeastern ACA (Angel Capital Association) chapters as a part of AngelPool last week. Included on the meeting were representatives from:

460 Angels, Blacksburg VA
Active Angel Investors, Vienna VA
Angel Capital Group, Hendersonville TN
AngelLounge, Atlanta GA
Birmingham Angel Network, Birm. AL
Central Texas Angel Network, Austin TX
CEO Ventures, Atlanta GA
Charleston Angel Partners, Charleston SC
Concho Valley Angel Network, San Angelo TX
Global Angel Investor Network, Savannah GA
Go Beyond Network, Naples FL
Gulf Coast Venture Forum, Naples FL
Houston Angel Network, Houston TX
Huntsville Angel Network, Huntsville AL
Inception Micro Angel Fund, Winston-Salem NC
InvestIn Forum of Angel Investors, Dallas TX
Jefferson Corner Group, Charlottesville VA
Louisiana Angel Network, Baton Rouge LA
Nashville Capital Network, Nashville TN
New Dominion Angels, Warrenton VA
New World Angels, Boca Raton FL
North Texas Angel Network, Fort Worth TX
Piedmont Angel Network, Greensboro NC
South Coast Angel Fund, New Orleans LA
South Texas Angel Network, San Antonio TX
Springboard Capital, Jacksonville FL
Upstate Carolina Angel Network, Greenville SC
Virginia Active Angel Network, Charlottesville VA
Women Angels, Miami FL


Over the course of an hour or so, we heard from three new companies (including BAN portfolio company TransactionTree) and had a few minutes for Michael Price (AngelPool Chairman) to provide some thoughts and visions for the future.

Despite a couple of to be expected technical glitches, it was a nice start to streamlining the syndication process and providing a great new resource for our southeastern ACA chapters.

Apply to Birmingham Angel Network, LLC - Create Application

It's a new year and time to kick off a great new class of companies for 2011.

Birmingham Angel Network ("BAN") will be looking for a new high growth companies to work with at our next meeting on Thursday night (Jan. 27th).

If you or someone you know would be a great fit, please tell them to submit an application before Thursday or it will be another 3 months before there is another opening. General criteria may be found at: BirminghAmangels.com/entrepreneurs.php

Submissions may be made online through AngelSoft at: Apply to Birmingham Angel Network, LLC - Create Application.







If you are a potential investor, Thursday is a great time to visit and check things out as well. RSVP at: http://ban012711.eventbrite.com/

Median exit price was up 70% to $46 million in 2010, but either way the math still works.

"The $46 million median amount paid for a venture-backed company in 2010 was 70% more than the $27 million median in 2009."Exits and amount up in 2010 by Dow Jones Venture Source

Thankfully those numbers are still in line with the the $30 million average successful exit planning assumption we have been using in our portfolio pro formas. (See the Nov. 22 blog post for more detail)

Of course, we would all be even happier if a non-typical paypal/google type 1000x slipped in there too.