It’s been a busy year for our team — in the best possible way. We’ve had the opportunity to travel all around the country to participate in a handful of exciting events, from our own company retreat to industry favorites like TechCrunch Disrupt and QuickBooks Connect.
As we wrap up the year, we wanted to look back on some of our biggest highlights.
TechCrunch Disrupt
We sponsored TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco, where our team leveraged our sponsor booth to hand out flyers, hand sanitizer, and phone chargers. There were a lot of logistics to consider to get several of our New York-based team members to Golden Gate City (shout out to our Operations Manager, Nina Lopez-Ortiz!), but it was well worth it.
With more than 20,000 people at the event, we had the opportunity to meet so many passionate, like-minded professionals. We learned a lot from the visionary speakers who took the stage and leaned into the chance to build meaningful business connections. We’re definitely looking forward to 2024’s event.
SOSA events
This year, we were invited to participate in not one but two events with SOSA. SOSA helps to connect corporations and governments to the technologies they need by guiding them to the right startups for their unique needs.
At one event, our founder Akshay Shrimanker joined our fractional CFO Rakesh Shah to talk to the founders of nine exciting Brazilian startups. The two helped the founders think through establishing operations in the U.S., including complying with the required financial reporting and taxes.
At the second event, Shrimanker sat down with key players at Taiwanese tech companies that are looking to expand into the U.S. Again, we shared our tax and financial reporting expertise. Specifically, Shrimanker touched on the tax implications of the different entity types those companies might choose (e.g., C-corporation, LLC), their payroll considerations, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) here, and optimizing their fintech stacks.
Our annual company retreat
The 2023 retreat was definitely a highlight for us. As Shrimanker said, “Because we’re a remote team, it was excellent to meet up in person.” This was our second year bringing everyone together, and we got so much out of the three days of team building.
On the first day, we focused on sharing knowledge and giving back. We had several workshops that we designed to keep our team on the leading edge. But we didn’t just focus the day on improving ourselves.
We also worked to improve our community. We partnered with WeHero to put together backpacks filled with school supplies for underprivileged kids. Our team’s enthusiasm for this give-back effort inspired us all to work hard together.
The second day, we invited Executive Empowering Coach Stephanie Virchaux to help us get stronger as a cohesive team. We spend the first part of the day building our team dynamic and our emotional intelligence. In the afternoon, we transitioned to more workshops, this time focused on marketing and client engagement.
The final day was all about embracing fun and unity. We tested ourselves at Beat the Bomb, a real-life video game experience, and had a blast enjoying our time together.
Webinar with NYU Tandon Future Labs
As part of its School of Engineering, NYU runs Tandon Future Labs in partnership with New York City. The Labs’ goal is to create an incubator that is sustainable, supporting startups that thrive while contributing positively to the world. In addition to options like Keystone, an eight-week crash course on launching a company, and InnoVention, a prototyping contest for NYU students, Tandon Future Labs also hosts educational sessions.
This year, that included a webinar from our team. Shrimanker joined Grace Tsou, our Senior Staff Accountant, to teach attendees about the START-UP NY program. Through this offering from New York State, new and expanding businesses can operate tax-free for a decade provided they base those operations on or near an eligible college or university campus. The goal is to encourage job creation for students and recent graduates while also allowing these fledgling companies to tap into resources at educational institutions.
Our team provided detailed information about this program to help companies identify if it could be right for them.
QuickBooks Connect
We very recently returned from Las Vegas, where we enjoyed three days of learning, and networking at QuickBooks Connect.
From exploring the latest QuickBooks features to gathering inspiration from keynote speakers like Ryan Reynolds, Jade Simmons, and Adam Grant, we got a lot out of our stint at the ARIA. And it didn’t hurt that we could get some continuing professional education (CPE) hours along the way.
We had a productive 2023, but we’re not stopping there. Instead, we’re looking forward to more opportunities to get out and connect with our community next year. If you want to chat with us about having our team host an informational webinar or you want to know where to find us at events in 2024, reach out.