THE RUPPERT CO., LLC
35 East Gay Street, STE. 502, Columbus, Ohio 43215
614.423.WIN1(9461) • INFO@Ruppert.company
Intro video below:
If you are involved in Campaign 2016, you should attend this "Lunch & Learn" session to brush up on the regulations and rules governing COORDINATION.
Free lunch provided by RCo. & Pinn Fundraising.
Spots are limited. RESERVE your space and get your TICKET now!
©Renata Ramsini
On April 26, 2016, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed the bipartisan Email Privacy Act by a vote of 419-0. The bill updates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to would clarify that law enforcement must obtain a warrant—except in certain clearly defined emergencies—before accessing individuals’ electronic communications. This is a long-overdue and necessary update to our digital privacy laws. You can learn more here.
One day later, on April 27, 2016, the House passed the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. The HALOS Act clarifies federal law regulating solicitation of investors and makes it easier for entrepreneurs and startups to publicly pitch and promote their ideas and companies without violating existing laws. You can learn more here.
Let's hope that the US Senate can quickly act and set aside election year distractions and rhetoric to secure final passage of this much-needed legislation.
Source: http://engine.is/
The Ruppert Co., LLC * ruppert.company
It's a New Year full of challenges and opportunities. Seize the initiative and make RCo. your partner for success in 2016.
JARuppert
RCo. has taken another step in our continuing effort to secure and protect client communication and information.
RCo. now utilizes TunnelBear to establish a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) whenever RCo. professionals use public or other non-secure wifi networks. Now all client data is hidden behind a VPN and all client online communications can remain private.
Want to be super secure? RCo. will make all "snoopers" think our laptops are in a foreign country of your choice!
We like Malta.
In July, RCo. announced the availability of (free) client encrypted file sharing and distribution via Sookasa.
Now, RCo. has integrated a new security solution into our email provider to enable simple, but airtight, military-grade encryption to communicate and share documents with clients.
Such safety doesn't increase client cost, require the client to memorize long passwords or download and use complicated software. Instead, RCo. has made it easy to verify your identity with a couple clicks.
Ease of mind with ease of use.
Simple. Safe.
Jeff Ruppert
At the Ruppert Co., we pride ourselves on our ability to communicate with our clients in a variey of efficient and cost-effective ways, be it by phone, text, gChat, email, shared cloud files folders, password-protected online sites and/or our online client portal.
However, we understand that some occasions require even greater security and protection. For such documents and communications, RCo. utilizes Sookasa encryption.
Sookasa uses powerful bank-level 256-bit AES encryption for all files and keys. Sookasa has been audited and tested by third parties to guarantee the highest standards of security; Sookasa certifies their compliance with HIPAA and FERPA regulations.
Sookasa is simple to use and easy for clients to integrate into their wokflow. It doesn't add a cent to client cost.
RCo. is committed to serving your needs, keeping your confidences, and providing you with peace of mind.
JARuppert
Read the full post on Medium:
Fascinating law review article outlining the inevitable wave of disruption that is about to crash over the traditional legal service model.
“These new technologies will substantially shake up the legal profession, harming the economic prospects of many lawyers, but providing advantages to some others. Machines may actually aid two kinds of lawyers in particular. First, superstars in the profession will be more identifiable and will use technology to extend their reach. Second, lawyers who can change their practice or organization to take advantage of lower cost inputs made available by machines will be able to serve an expanding market of legal services for middle-class individuals and small businesses, meeting previously unfulfilled legal needs.”
A recommended read for anyone in legal services or those who consume them.
Also, and perhaps more importantly and usefully, it may serve as an outline for those entrepreneurial spirits that see opportunity rather than threats from such change.
Link to article here: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s190/sh/f4ef12f2-d7be-44d4-9704-cf4fdf7b1abe/2350dd8673b5815b106f30bca39df784
JARuppert
@Square is constantly innovating, and we here at RCo. like to do the same.
RCo. uses Square and implements all of Square's latest initiatives to allow RCo. to serve serve your legal / compliance needs while also ensuring that your experience with our firm is simple, easy, convenient and pleasant.
While paying a legal/compliance invoice does not rank high on most folk's list of pleasant experiences, RCo. wants to at least make it simple.
To that end, we have embraced payment by SquareCash #cashtag.
Starting today, you can pay your RCo. invoice by simply visiting https://cash.me/$RUPPERT.
Once there, enter the amount to be paid along with your debit card info. That's it. No muss. no Fuss.
Simple. As painless as we can make it.
As always, let us know how we can make your experience with RCo. better. We always want to improve for our clients.
J. Ruppert
Inspiration and my favorite quote from the $CSCO earnings conference call:
“[They are] a competitor. We’re going to view them as a competitor and we will beat them and have fun doing it. I wish I was a better person, but I’m not.”
Neither am I.
WIN
JARuppert
Nice LinkedIn post reminding us of the oft-forgotten benefits of "flyover" states like Ohio, and why it makes sense to call them home in every sense of the word:
“When I talked to people who live on the coasts about the rent for our office space, they gasp. I’m not joking, in two instances there was a literal jaw drop and audible gasp. Northeast Ohio has one of the lowest costs of living in the US, and that definitely translates to office space as well. We occupy a 5000 sq ft office in downtown Akron, a mix of industrial space and finished office space - which is walking distance to all the downtown restaurants, bars and events. A hiking / biking trail next to our office leads into a National Park 5 miles away. And our monthly rent is less than one third that of a 700 sq ft studio apartment in the Bay Area. We could literally afford 15 thousand square feet of office space for what one person in San Francisco pays to live in a tiny apartment.
Labor rates are lower here as well, but even so our assembly techs are able to make a salary that affords them better housing here than degreed engineers can afford in the Valley.”
Read the whole article: Why our Tech Startup is Based in Akron, Ohio.
Jeff Ruppert
With the current US Supreme Court, the world of campaign finance has become a deeper shade of gray.
While progressives rail and rally against such decisions as Citizens United, Speech Now, McCutcheon and (in Ohio) Right to Life v. OEC, the reality of now is that for progressive causes and candidates to compete we have to adapt and adopt the real-time tactics of the conservative right and Tea Party.
I'm glad to see the DSCC take up the gauntlet and do what is right to preserve the Senate in 2014.
“ Democrats in key states like Arkansas, Iowa and Louisiana are being outspent on the TV airwaves by “the Kochs and their friends,” referring to the conservative billionaires David and Charles Koch, whose political network reportedly plans to spend $290 million ahead of the November election.
“To fight back, we’ve launched an unprecedented midterm field program: The Grassroots Victory Project!” the DSCC website continues.
In addition to the DSCC, the Grassroots Victory Project 2014 committee includes 11 state and local party committees in battleground states:
Democratic State Central Committee of Louisiana
Iowa Democratic Party
Democratic Party of Arkansas
Colorado Democratic Party
North Carolina’s Wake County Democratic Party Federal Campaign Committee
Michigan Democratic State Central Committee
Georgia Federal Election Committee
Alaska Democratic Party
New Hampshire Democratic Party
Kentucky State Democratic Central Executive Committee
West Virginia State Democratic Executive Committee
Fourteen Democratic Senate candidates will also benefit:
Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska
Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota
Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon
Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire
Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia
Rep. Bruce Braley of Iowa
Rep. Gary Peters of Michigan
Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes
West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant
Michelle Nunn of Georgia”
If you or your organization would like to engage in your own similar fight, contact us at RCo. We've worked with (and are working with organizations adopting such new fundraising and expenditure strategies).
You can read the whole article here.
Jeffrey Ruppert
Source: Secret, San Francisco based app Secret.
Wise words from the article - especially of you are posting about business or finance:
So if you’re an ardent believer in anonymity, be careful: If you reveal something important enough to be legally protected on one of these platforms, your anonymity might not be secure. The only secrets you can safely reveal on these platforms (and even then, only as long as they’re not crimes) are your own.
Quartz: When it comes to secrets, Wall Street titans and Silicon Valley VCs see eye-to-eye, http://qz.com/189363/when-it-comes-to-secrets-wall-street-titans-and-silicon-valley-vcs-see-eye-to-eye/
With my background in criminal defense, I couldn't agree more...and civil / contract / employment law will afford you little protection if you step out of bounds.
It's a lot like an adage a lot of us grew up repeatedly hearing - if you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself.
Jeffrey Ruppert
Yet another place where I see parallels between the skills needed to build and manage a successful startup and those necessary to launch and maintain a competitive political campaign:
“Startup CEOs should not play the odds. When you are building a company, you must believe there is an answer and you cannot pay attention to your odds of finding it. You just have to find it. It matters not whether your chances are nine in ten or one in a thousand; your task is the same.”
― Ben Horowitz, The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Moreover, both The Ruppert Co. and High Mountain Ventures are dedicated to supporting those individuals who not only take these risk and exhibit these skills, but, increasingly, but also combine the entrepreneurial and political worlds into an ever-expanding for and non-profit sphere of what we call "political entrepreneurship" that not only creates opportunity for the progressive minded, but also benefits our community as a whole.
Stay tuned.
Jeffrey Ruppert
Interesting perspective.My colleagues and I have been engaging for some time in what I have termed "political entrepreneurship" as we work to bring innovative thinking and solutions to progressive campaigns, committees and causes.Maybe its time we demand the same approach from our political leadership - both those seeking office and those in power? I think we all agree that we need something new in our politics and the halls of government.Just bought CA Lt. Gov. Newsome's book Citizenville. I'll report back on any insights.Jeff Ruppert
Couldn't agree more.
From the perspective of an early adopter and inventor in the crowdfunding industry, I expect that the Internet will do to capital what it did to media and commerce—completely disrupt the status quo.
Jeffrey Ruppert
Very interesting perspective on venture capital.
Appears to have grumped some VCs out, so must be on the mark on some points.
Looking forward to Dear Dumb Entrepreneur.
Jeffrey Ruppert
This a recommended post from our sister organization, High Mountain Ventures, LLC.
I authored the post, so I won't say the post deserves a looks so much as the video is a MUST SEE!
Jeffrey Ruppert
Excerpt from recommended FastCompany article, Save Your Startup, re: how talking with the right attorney at the genesis of your startup may increase your chance at success:
So rather than discuss why startups fail, let me explain why startup lawyers fail. I can sum it up with one word: “No.” The startup lawyers who fail say, “No, you can’t do it that way." And they say no all the time.” Those who succeed answer every problem with "this is what you can do" instead of "no way, impossible."
The sentiment is true regardless of whether your "startup" is a tech venture, a small business, a non-profit or a campaign...whatever your new undertaking, you don't need to just hear NO.
At RCo., we pride ourselves on listening to your objectives, understanding the challenges posed and helping you navigate your way to YES.
Jeffrey Ruppert
Legal, Consulting & Research Services
info@ruppert.company • 614.423.WIN1 (9461)
