Income Tax Return Filing for Beginners in India

For a beginner, income tax return filing may seem like a big deal. If this is your first time at it, here's are some pointers to help you sail.

1. Should I file a Return?
The IT department requires that one must file an income tax return if their total income is more than Rs 2,50,000. This total income is essentially the sum of income earned from all sources - salary, interest income from the bank, any rental income etc. Also the Rs 2,50,000 is your gross income before reducing any Deductions. Non-filing of returns may attract some penalties from the IT department.

2. All my tax is already deducted?
While, TDS may already have been deducted from your salary and other incomes, disclosing all your incomes and filing your return timely is your responsibility. So we go back to the thumb rule of 'file a return where your income exceeds Rs 2,50,000', whether or not TDS is deducted, all taxes may have been paid - the IT department still wants you to submit your IT Return.

3. My employer gave me a Form 16?
Your Form 16 is like a certificate your employer gave you for all the taxes they deducted before paying you salary. In fact, anyone who deducts tax before paying you is required to give you a certificate of it. Your Form 16 has other vital information which will help you file your return easily - so do remember to get hold of this document. If you changed jobs during the year, you'll have as many Form 16s.

4. I don't know what is my total Income?
Your income is the sum total of your income from the following heads - income from salaries, income from house property, income from capital gains, Income from business & profession and Income from other sources.
 

Income from Salary	Salary, HRA, other allowances basically all the money you receive while rendering your job as a result of your employment agreement.
Income from House Property	Income from your house that you have rented. Or if you have taken a loan for a house property that own and live in, the interest payout shall be your loss under this head. This loss can be adjusted against incomes from other heads.
Income from Capital Gains	Income from gain or loss when you sell a capital asset. For example, sale of shares, mutual funds etc.
Income from Business or Profession	Income/loss that arises as a result of carrying on a business or profession.
Income from Other Sources	This is the residual head -includes your income from savings bank accounts, fixed deposits, family pension or gifts received.

You can choose to disclose all your incomes to your employer and they will deduct tax on them. This saves you the hassle of paying taxes yourself. Now while filing your return, make sure you have considered all sources of income including interest on your savings bank account, interest from FDs or any shares you sold during the year. Your tax return should mention all your incomes.

5. What are deductions from income?
Certain deductions are available under section 80C to 80U. These deductions are allowed from your gross income and may help you move down a slab as well as reduce your tax outgo, so make the most of them. Your contributions to EPF, deposits to PPF, life insurance premium payments are all eligible to be deducted under section 80C. The maximum amount you can claim under section 80C is Rs 1,50,000 for financial year 2014-15. That's a lot of reduction from your gross income. If you have taken health insurance, a deduction is allowed under section 80D, for interest payment on education loans deduction can be claimed under section 80E and a lot of other deductions are available too, if you meet the conditions listed therein.

6. How do I go about filing my return?
You can simply upload your Form 16 on ClearTax and populate your return. You can also go head by head and keep adding details of your incomes. Make sure you have mentioned all the deductions you want to claim. Use your Form 26AS to get a sense of all the TDS that has been deducted against your PAN number and take credit of this TDS against your final tax liability. Or if excess TDS has been deducted, you may be in a refund situation. Form 26AS will also help you identify all the incomes you need to report if they've been subjected to TDS. You'll see your interest income from the bank and the TDS deducted on it, so you can add the income under the head 'income from other sources' and take credit for TDS deducted. Of course, your return must include all incomes, whether or not TDS has been deducted on them. Do remember to enter your personal information like PAN, phone number, email address and bank account number accurately. Usually salary returns are not complex and you'll be done in a matter of few minutes.

Hope this helps you succeed at filing your return the first time.

Disclaimer: All information in this article has been provided by Cleartax.in and Ezeeguide.blogspot.com is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the same.

How is Your CIBIL Score Calculated?

Today almost no loan or credit card application gets approved without checking the applicant's CIBIL report and CIBIL TransUnion Score. Ever wondered how a person's credit score is calculated? Here's a quick glimpse into what goes into the making of a person's CIBIL TransUnion Score:

What is a CIBIL TransUnion score?
CIBIL calculates an individual's credit score through advanced analytics and assigns a number between 300 and 900 to a borrower, based on his/her credit history. The closer your score to 900, the more confidence the credit institution will have in your ability to repay the loan and hence, the better the chances of your application getting approved. While each bank will have its own credit scoring cut-off based on the credit sanctioning policies, it has been observed that most banks are lending to consumers with a CIBIL TransUnion Score of 750 and above.

How is the score calculated?
While each credit information company has its own proprietary algorithm to calculate an individual's credit score, the most important elements of the score composition are centric around the loan payment behavior of the individual. Your CIBIL TransUnion Score is calculated based on the information in the "Accounts" and "Enquiry" section of your CIBIL Report. The score is calculated based on the following factors:

• Credit Utilization: How much credit is the consumer using?
• Defaulting/Delinquency: How many accounts are past due and by how many days?
• Trade Attributes: How old are this consumer's lines of credit? What type of credit does he have? Does the consumer have a good mix or balance of credit or is it all credit cards?

Here is a breakup of the various factors that impact the CIBIL Transunion Score:

1. Past Performance: Individuals past performance on their debt obligations is the most important criterion and contributes approximately 30 per cent weightage to the score

2. Credit Type & Duration: Type of loan availed whether secured or unsecured loan, and the duration of credit history established contributes an additional 25 per cent to the score.

3. Credit Exposure: The total amount of credit exposure contributes another 25 per cent

4. Other factors: Other factors such as credit utilization, recent credit behavior contribute the remaining 20 per cent to the score.

Your CIBIL Report and CIBIL TransUnion Score not only determine whether or not you qualify for a loan, but it may also have an impact on the terms and conditions on which you can avail the loan. The higher the credit score, the better your chances of availing the loan faster and on favorable terms. It is advisable to check your CIBIL Report and CIBIL TransUnion Score before applying for a loan. Timely payments of loan EMIs is most important for maintaining a good credit history and a healthy credit score.

(Harshala Chandorkar, Senior Vice President - Consumer Services and Communication, CIBIL)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

Story first published on: June 21, 2015 17:22 (IST)

Gold Monetization Scheme: Here's How You Can Earn Interest on Your Gold in India

The government on Tuesday released the draft guidelines for its ambitious gold monetization scheme that aims to cut down gold imports in the country. The guidelines have been notified nearly three months after the scheme was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget.

Here's how the gold mobilization scheme is likely to work according to the draft guidelines:

1) The scheme is meant to mobilize gold held by domestic households and institutions. Gold collected through the scheme will be made available to jewelers for manufacturing of new jewellery and other items.

2) The scheme will initially be launched at a few places because the government will have to first set-up infrastructure for facilitating easy and secure handling of gold.

3) Gold collected from consumers will first be cleaned and measured at test centres; it would then be melted to test for purity. After the tests, consumers can either deposit the gold for a fee or take it back after paying a nominal fee.

4) The minimum quantity of gold that a customer can bring is proposed to be set at 30 grams.

5) Those willing to deposit the gold will be given a certificate mentioning the amount and purity of the deposited gold. Banks will open a 'Gold Savings Account' on the basis of such certificates.

6) Consumers will be paid interest on their gold savings account after 30/60 days of account opening. The amount of interest rate to be given is proposed to be left to the banks to decide.

7) Both principal and interest will be paid to the depositors of gold, will be 'valued' in gold. For example if a customer deposits 100 gms of gold and gets 1 per cent interest, then, on maturity he has a credit of 101 gms.

8) The customer will have the option of redemption either in cash or in gold, which will have to be exercised in the beginning itself (that is, at the time of making the deposit).

9) The tenure of the deposit will be minimum 1 year and in multiples of one year. Like a fixed deposit, breaking of locking period will be allowed.

10) Gold savings account will be exempt from capital gains tax, wealth tax and income tax.

According to the government, gold deposit accounts will utilise the 20,000 tonnes available within the country and help in cutting down the 800-1,000 tonnes of gold the country ships every year. The last day for submitting feedback on draft guidelines with the finance ministry is June 2.

8 Clever Ways To Raise Money For Your New Startup

Raising money for your new startup isn’t as difficult as you may think.
However getting the right source of funding is slightly more complex. Each source of capital has its own unique advantages and disadvantages.

Here are 8 of the most reliable sources when it comes to raising money for your startup.

8 Ways To Raise Capital For Your Startup

1 – Crowd funding

While crowdfunding is still in its infancy as a means of raising money for your startup its popularity is rapidly increasing. Crowd funding takes it name from the fact that your project is funded by the public using their own personal funds. To start with, you propose the idea that you wish to see funded. People can then choose how much or how little they want to give you. Most crowdfunding sitescurrently use a reward base model where people who invest in a new business venture are given some form of reward such as the product that is going to be produced. However changes to US law will soon allow equity based crowdfunding.

Some of the best crowdfunding websites for small businesses include Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Fundable.

2 – Angel Investing

After entrepreneurs have made their fortune many of them look to invest their funds back into startup businesses. These are known as angel investors. Some of the worlds largest businesses including Google, Facebook, Skype and Twitterhave received angel investing.

The benefits of receiving angel investment go beyond the purely financial. The advice and connections that a good angel investor can offer can be equally as valuable. Angel investors are willing to take on the risk of a brand new startup. There are a number of angel investing networks which connect entrepreneurs and investors. Some of the biggest networks include Golden Seeds, Tech Coast Angels and Investors Circle.

3 – Family and Friends

Your family and friends want to see you succeed and may even want a stake in your potential goldmine for themselves. However using family and friends as a source of raising money can be problematic. It can create a strain that can ruin personal relationships. It is also worth remembering that over 50% of small businesses fail in their first five years often because of factors completely outside of the control of the owners. Make sure that you are not borrowing money that they can’t afford to lose. Put any lending agreement in writing with the terms clearly laid out even if it is a “friendly” loan.

A number of successful businesses have started out with a loan from friends and family, so don’t shoot this idea down, just be mindful about the pitfalls and burdens that may come about in turbulent times. The risk is high but so is the reward when you are able to grow not only your own wealth but friends and families along the way.

4 – Credit Cards

Credit cards should be viewed as a temporary measure between getting your business started and obtaining other financing such as a bank loan. Given the hefty 10 – 20% plus interest rates on many credit cards they are generally not a good source of loan term capital. That said credit cards have been used by many entrepreneurs when their was no other options available. In the mid 1990s the founders of Google initially funded the company using credit cards. While the founders maxed out their credit cards they used the funds wisely, purchasing second-hand computers instead of new ones and open source software instead of off the shelf.

5 – Bank Financing

One of the most common ways that people raise capital for their small business is through a bank loan. Your banker may request that you have your loan guaranteed by the Small Business Association before approval. The SBA is a government agency who will guarantee up to 80% of the value of the loan for applicants which meet their criteria. Alternatively you may be able to offer some other form of security such as your home to get your loan approved.

6 – Second Mortgage

Second mortgages are also referred to as home equity lines of credit. These loans tap into the locked up equity you may have in your home. To calculate how much you may be able to borrow for a second mortgage take the value of your home and deduct the value of any outstanding mortgage. Be aware some lenders may only lend only up to 70 – 80% of the fair value of the home. One of the biggest advantages of using a second mortgage is that the interest rate tends to be lower than with others form of financing. This is because the bank knows it can always recover the value of the loan by foreclosing on your property if you are not able to meet your interest payments.

7 – Venture Capital

Venture capitalists aim to invest in early stage businesses with high growth potential. Traditionally venture capitalists received equity in the business in exchange for funding it. However these days they typically demand a mixture of equity and debt financing.

The venture capital business is based on the idea of a few big wins making up for a lot of poor performers. In fact approximately 3 out of 4 businesses which receive venture capital fail. Because of this venture capitalists look for businesses which have a lot of growth potential. If the market for your business is more modest you may need to look elsewhere for funding.

8 – Business Partner

You might not have the money to get your business started but maybe you know someone who does. Of the Inc top 500 businesses, 28% received seed funding from a co-founder.

When selecting a partner for your business you need to make sure that their own goals for the business are aligned with yours. As a business partner they will have control over the direction of the business. It is also a good idea to have a buy out agreement in place in case of a breakdown in the business relationship. This should stipulate that the other partner must agree to a proposed buyout within a set time frame or buyout the other partner themselves.

Finally it is worthwhile looking at the lesson of Facebook. CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg had seen how earlier dot com companies had been willing to give away almost all of their equity to venture capitalists in order to get funded. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake and never gave up equity lightly. His 28.1% stake is now worth $14.9 billion. Be careful to negotiate your own financing terms with equal tenacity even when all you have is a vision for the future. The difference may one day be worth millions.

6 Guy Kawasaki Lessons About Pitching Your Startup To An Investor

Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, bestselling author, and Apple Fellow. He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984.

“You say: “I have lots of great ideas, but I have trouble figuring out which one to try. Let me tell you about a couple.” Investor thinks: “I want to know which idea you’re going to kill yourself trying to make successful, not which ideas have crossed your idle mind.”” – Guy Kawasaki

“Here’s what you should say [to investor]: “This is what my company does…” It’s that simple. What you’re trying to do is get potential investors to fantasize about how your product or service will make a boatload of money. They can’t fantasize if they don’t know what you do.” – Guy Kawasaki

“You say: “I love to think of new ways to solve problems.” Investor thinks: “Is this a high-school science fair?””- Guy Kawasaki

“You say: “My goal is to build a world-class company.” Investor thinks: “How about you ship and sell the first copy before we talk about world-class anything?”” – Guy Kawasaki

“You say: “I don’t know much about your firm, but I thought I’d contact you anyway.” Investor thinks: “You’re a lazy idiot–why are you wasting my time?”” – Guy Kawasaki

“You say: “The last time I contacted you, I…” Investor thinks: “I’m going to fire my secretary for putting this clown on my calendar again.”” – Guy Kawasaki

How Do I Know If I Should Take A Job At A Startup?

Imagine if someone asked “would you invest in this company?” Your answer is going to be similar. With a few additions.

Here’s the checklist I would follow:

A) Has the CEO built a business before?

This is not always reliable (Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page hadn’t built businesses before) but there’s an interesting stat: 85 percent of startups fail. If the CEO has built and sold a startup before, then the odds go down to 25 percent. So you might as well have the statistics on your side.

B) Does the company have good funding?

By good funding I mean two things:

Enough money to last at least a year. And, by the way, this is an important thing to note: if the company has six months or fewer worth of funding then they are already out of business. Which is why “A” above is so important. Good CEOs know this.

“Good funding” means people (or funds) who will also write second checks. If all they have is one year’s worth of friends and family money, then you are taking the risk in a year they will run out of money. Why take risks when there are plenty of other good jobs out there?

And, I’ll throw in a bonus third thing on this: it shows they are the type of company/CEO who can raise money, sell his vision, etc.

C) Do you believe in the vision?

This can mean several things.

The CEO is creative enough to develop a strong vision and he’s also a good enough communicator to convey that vision.

You would use the product (if the product was applicable to you).

You can’t use the product but you can easily see how this product can help a million or more people.

I’ll give a good example and a bad example.

Good example: Tesla. You would work for Tesla if you believe in Elon Musk’s vision of reduced need on fossil fuels, or if you want to drive a Tesla, or if you think everyone driving an electronic car (and having a powerwall) will help a million or more people.

Bad example: someone pitched me an idea where consumers can pick the type of ads they see. I do NOT see how this would really help a million or more people. So I would not work for a company like that (and, by the way, they had a lot of investors).

I invested in a startup recently that developed a technology for vaping vitamins and medical drugs. I use the product (I vape B12 with it, Vitamin D with it, and trans-reservatrol). And I can easily see how this can help a million or more people (the entire U.S. is Vitamin D deficient and people’s bodies are unable to digest vitamin pills.

D) Valuation

You’re presumably getting options at a startup and, depending on the value you contribute, those options will increase.

How do you know if their latest round valuation is good?

Forget for a second the money they raised (we dealt with that above).

But imagine you had, in cash, the amount of their full valuation. Would you be able to create a better product with more traction? Like, for $46 billion, would you be able to beat Uber? Unclear to me. But there are plenty of startups out there where if you gave me their full valuation in cash I can easily see how they can be replaced.

Don’t work for a company that is easily replaceable at a lower valuation.

Also, if you believe in the valuation, make sure your options are not at the venture capital price but at the “409A valuation” price. Google that.

E) Learning

There’s a great story about Sergey Brin interviewing people. He can usually tell in the first few minutes if he’s not going to hire someone.

So then he spends the rest of the interview making sure he learns at least one thing from the interviewee.

Make sure that even in the worst case scenario where you misjudged everything else, that you at least learn one thing fairly quickly after you take the job so that it adds to your skill set and you can move on to get a better job.

I took a job once at HBO (not a startup but still) where I learned so much in a three-year period I was able to take the skills (ranging from technology to entertainment to TV production) and leave and start a successful company.

F) Subtleties

I visit a lot of companies per year for various reasons. I always look for the subtleties.

How do the partners get along? The entire culture of a company comes from the top down. So if the partners who started the business don’t have their emotional act together, the company itself won’t be emotionally sound. One company I was about to invest in was a co-CEO situation. I heard one of the CEOs gossiping about the other. I didn’t invest.

How do the employees talk about the clients? Read the biography of the founder of JetBlue. He would stay up to 3 in the morning every night responding to customer service emails. Once a month he would ride on one of the longer plane rides and starting at the back of the plane and moving to the front he would sit with every passenger and ask them if they had any problems with the flight. He actually hired employees that way. That’s the CEO but everyone in the company should have that attitude toward customers.

A year ago I visited a law firm where they were trashing their customers and making jokes about them. That’s not the sort of company I would hire, work for, invest in, etc. A company and it’s customers are one eco-system. Not “us vs them.”

Your boss and his/her boss. A lot of bosses make hiring decisions based on “would you ride in a cross-country airplane next to this guy.” You should make your decision the same way about your potential bosses. Believe me – they need you more than you need them. So you have to like them.

Also, think ecosystem again – try to see their relationships with other people in the company. All gossiping is bad. Hopefully they think highly of the people they work with. Else you shouldn’t work for them and you shouldn’t work for that company.

G) Demographic Trends.

Warren Buffett is not a value investor. Everyone thinks he is but he hasn’t done real value investing since the early 1960s.

Warren Buffett is a demographic investor. Two quotes from Buffett:

“If a company is going to be here 20 years from now then it is probably a good stock to buy.” and

“If you have a strong demographic wind behind you then the company will do well even with poor management.”

For example, the book Bold lists a lot of demographic trends that take advantage of Moore’s Law that are getting bigger. Robotics, Internet of Things, 3D printing, etc. That’s one start. Another start are companies disrupting healthcare since that is such a mess right now.

Another example: I’d rather work for Uber than a company that lends money against taxi medallions. I’d rather work for Airbnb than Marriott. I’d rather work for Tesla than GM.

H) Light At the End of the Tunnel

You can’t ask in your interview, “when will you IPO?”

It’s unpredictable when a company will exit. A good company might wait 7-10 years before an exit. In fact, a good company should wait 7-10 years. Why? Because if they’re good then they are undoubtedly growing faster than the market. So they should stay private as long as possible to maximize benefits for shareholders and employees.

But here’s the problem: The average employee stays at a startup for 3.1 years (perhaps that corresponds to vesting schedules, I don’t know).

Make sure you can wait for that 7-10 year run. Also, I’d try to figure out if management is ultimately interested in an exit. Some CEOs are not.

I) Eventual Profits

Make sure you see the path to profitability. Some startups might be years away. But the good thing about working for a company that ultimately has huge margins (not just profits but margins) is that they have a lot of perks.

Just compare the chef at Google with the chef at Walmart. Hint: there IS NO chef at Walmart.

– – –

This seems like a big checklist before you decide to work for a startup. But don’t forget that YOU are the valuable person here. Take care of all of your needs and then you will have more freedom. Be able to demonstrate greater competence at your job, and have better relationships with the people you work with.

In other words, you’ll be happy. And that’s a nice reason to take a job.

Its a shame....Indian Passport Ranked 48 Out of 50 Most Powerful Travel Document: Survey

LONDON:  The Indian passport has been ranked 48th in a list of 50 most powerful travel document in the world, according to a global survey topped by Sweden.

Germany-based Go Euro travel comparison website ranked the top 50 countries of the world based on their passport's eligibility for visa-free entry, cost of application as well as number of hours worked to acquire the document.

India, which came towards the bottom of the ranking, offered visa-free entry to 52 countries and cost 24 dollars and 87 hours of working time.

Sweden topped the chart with 174 visa-free countries, costing 43 dollars and just one hour of working time.

Finland, Germany, the UK and US completed the top 5 with 174 visa-free countries all round.

"As any avid traveller knows, passports are the key to adventures.

"Passports are the ultimate 'don't leave home without it' item, but the nationality on one's passport can have a major effect on travel plans and time abroad," Go Euro said in a statement.

Iraq and Afghanistan were ranked the least useful nationalities for passports with Pakistan not even making to the top 50.

UAE drafts law for 100% foreign ownership of firms

The UAE is at an advanced stage of drafting a foreign investment law that would allow 100 percent foreign ownership of businesses in some sectors, the economy minister said on Monday.

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, speaking at an international investment conference in Dubai, did not specify the sectors or say when the law might be passed. The process of drafting and enacting major laws in the UAE often takes years.

But the initiative may mark a more aggressive push by the Arab world's second biggest economy to attract investment. At present, foreigners generally cannot own more than 49 percent of any UAE firm unless it is incorporated in a special "free zone".

A new companies law, anticipated to take effect within months, was originally expected to relax this restriction, but that reform was dropped because of strong opposition from some Emiratis who feared they could lose out to foreigners.

Mansouri said on Monday, however, that the UAE was determined to diversify its economy beyond oil and saw foreign investment as a key way to do this.

"Economies face pressures from changes in the international environment, including the drop of the oil price," he said.

While Mansouri did not say how the new foreign investment law would work, it may require fully foreign-owned firms to transfer technology in sectors that are strategically important for the UAE. Officials have previously said they are keen to attract technology for industries such as aerospace.

New foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UAE rose 25 percent to $13 billion in 2014, Mansouri said, adding that the government aimed to raise FDI to 5 percent of gross domestic product in coming years. GDP was AED1.540 trillion ($420 billion) last year, he said.

Monkey Teasees Cheatah

Post by ‎Radio Bethlehem 2000 راديو بيت لحم‎.

100 Incredible Resources for Tech Entrepreneurs and Startups

General Resources

1. Startup Stash – A curated directory of resources and tools to help you build your startup.
2. Freebie Supply – Awesome free things for entrepreneurs and startups.
3. Startup{ery – A library of the best resources to help you build your business.
4. VC Cafe Startup Resources – A huge list of startup resources (updated over the years).
5. Startups.co – A startup launch platform to help you find customers, funding, press, mentors.
6. Toggl – Free time tracking software to improve workplace productivity.
7. Bootswatch – Free Bootstrap templates.
8. Slimvoice – Insanely simple invoicing.
9. Domainr – Find the best domain names fast.
10. Rapportive – Get LinkedIn profiles right inside of Gmail.

Inspiration/Motivation

1. Requests for Startups – A daily newsletter of ideas that investors would like to fund.
2. Startup Quote – Wisdom about making things.
3. Foundation – Kevin Rose interviews some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs.
4. Pitchenvy – A gallery of startup pitch decks.
5. Signal Tower – Longform interviews with brilliant designers and entrepreneurs.
6. Startups.co.uk – The UK’s leading resource for starting a business.
7. Startup Digest – The personalized insider newsletter for all things startup in your area.
8. GV Library – Resources from a radically different kind of venture fund.
9. StartupTalks – A curated collection of startup related videos.
10. The How – Learn from entrepreneurs who have hard-won advice to share.
11. Startup Idea Prompts – Little prompts to spark big startup ideas (click the button).
12. Startup Vitamins – Motivation for your business.
13. Closed Club – A weekly digest full of lessons learned from failed startups.
14. #StartupMovies – Movies, series, documentaries and podcasts for entrepreneurs.
15. RandomStartup.org – Stumbleupon for startups. Discover random startups.

Build

1. StartupStack – Find companies that use your favorite language and technologies.
2. Talk To Us – Let your visitors show you why they aren’t converting.
3. InVision – A prototyping, collaboration and workflow platform.
4. Codeship – Continuous delivery made simple.
5. Segment – A simple hub to track customer data.
6. Batch – Free engagement platform for mobile apps.
7. Commando – Manage servers easily online.
8. DigitalOcean – Simple cloud hosting built for developers.
9. Intercom – Customer communication made simple.
10. Sqwiggle – Fast and easy way to stay in contact with your team.

Business

1. Knowlium – Business plan software.
2. Visible – Crystal clear performance insight for startups and investors.
3. Startup Documents – Less time on paperwork, more time on business.
4. The Startup Admin – Experienced assistants, HR, office managers and bookkeepers on tap.
5. Proved – Prove your startup idea; validate with customer feedback.
6. Clerky – Helps startups get legal stuff done right (and fast).
7. Pressfarm – Find journalists to write about your startup.
8. Startup Growth Calculator – Calculates how much funding your startup needs.
9. Startup Metrics Dashboard – A simple way to monitor your business metrics in realtime.
10. Startup Equity Calculator – Figure out how much equity to grant new hires in seconds.

Education

1. Treehouse – Learn HTML, CSS, iPhone apps and more.
2. Startup Institute – Immersive education for the innovation economy.
3. The Lean Startup – The movement changing how products are built.
4. StartupClass.co – Y Combinator’s how to start a startup (free expert knowledge).
5. Startup Sales Bootcamp – Learn the psychological hacks used by top sellers.
6. MIT OpenCourseware – Free online class materials.
7. Skillshare Entrepreneurship Classes – Take online classes.
8. How to Build a Startup – The Lean LaunchPad (Udacity).
9. 3 Day Startup – How students get started.
10. Startup Engineering (Stanford) – Leap from academic CS to actual engineering.

Communities

1. Teamstory – A social network for startups and entrepreneurs.
2. #Startup – The global startup community, on Slack.
3. Startup Genome – They love startups… map your local startup ecosystem.
4. Startups List – Collections of the best startups in different places.
5. Inspired Startups – Online startup community for entrepreneurs.
6. Digital NYC – NYC’s startup hub.
7. Startup Blink – The global startup map.
8. Represent LA – The LA startup scene, mapped.
9. Mapped In Israel – The Israeli startup community, mapped.
10. Start-Up Chile – Just what it sounds like.

Blogs for Entrepreneurs

1. AVC – If you don’t already know about this blog… shame on you!
2. First Round Review – Experts speaking directly to you about what matters.
3. Trend Watching – Consumer trends and insights from around the world.
4. Startup Nation – Everything you need to build your business.
5. Both Sides of the Table – Mark Suster’s blog (2x entrepreneur, now VC).
6. Above The Crowd – Notes from an experienced VC.
7. Feld Thoughts – My personal favorite VC blog to stay tuned into.
8. StartupCFO – A blog on funding, growing and exiting startups.
9. David G. Cohen – Founder and managing partner, Techstars.
10. Entrepreneur On Fire – Daily podcast interviews with interesting entrepreneurs.

Accelerators

1. 500 Startups
2. Y Combinator
3. Techstars
4. AngelPad
5. DreamIt Ventures
6. Seedcamp
7. Muckerlab
8. Brandery
9. Betaspring
10. Tech Wildcatters 

Fun

1. Startup Secret Santa – Exactly what it sounds like. Awesome.
2. OfficeFetish – Showcasing offices from new startups and tech companies.
3. Startup Challenge – Startup insights from YC, gamified.
4. Startup Fight – Guess the startup and chose whose pitch is better.
5. Startup Network – Predicting successful startups.

Miscellaneous

1. Cool Startup, Bro – Watch the latest, greatest new startup videos.
2. Trello – Free, flexible, visual way to organize anything with anyone.
3. STARTUP Threads – Quality branded apparel for your company.
4. Asana – Teamwork without email.
5. Startups Anonymous – AA for startups.
6. Unsplash – Free high-res photos (for you to do whatever you want with).
7. Work In Startups – Where startups meet rockstar employees.
8. 7 Cups of Tea – Starting up is hard. Find someone who will really listen.
9. StartUp – A podcast; what happens when someone who knows nothing about business starts one.
10. Google Platform for Startups – $100,000 in credit and 24/7 support for eligible startups.