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Jason Goldberg

Jason Goldberg
CEO
Jobster

Jason Goldberg was born and raised in Rockville, Maryland. He worked from 1993 to 1998 at the White House in Washington D.C., the final two years as senior aide to the White House Chief of Staff, Erskine Bowles.

Through his own frustrations with hiring people at AOL and T-Mobile, he decided to start Jobster. Based in Seattle, Jobster is one of the hottest Web 2.0 companies in the country. It's a site for job seekers and employers wanting to converse with them, has recently raised $18 million from investors. Jobster is now valued above $100 million.

The company already has Starbucks, Expedia.com, Microsoft, and Google on their client roster.

What's the next target market for Jobster? The federal government and the companies that serve the federal government. In an exclusive interview, we discuss the business model of Jobster, how and why the State Department is using Jobster, and the company's biggest challenge moving forward.

Click here for the full interview.

Nate Davis

Nate Davis
President and COO
XM Satellite Radio

Last month, XM Satellite Radio named board member Nate Davis as President and COO to boost share price and subscriptions. In an exclusive interview, we discuss his top challenges, the impact of Howard Stern on their business, and the importance of Oprah Winfrey's new channel, Oprah & Friends.

Click here for the full interview.

How to Blame Your Predecessor
The art of throwing the previous regime under the bus.

Bob London
President, London, Ink LLC

We all know about the so-called honeymoon period in business: the time at the beginning of a new job when an executive can sit back and absorb and assess the way things work, who the power players are and where the bodies are buried--without being expected to make any great decisions or pronouncements. It’s a no-fault grace period which can last as long as several months depending on the role and company.

But there's another less-talked about phase executives can leverage to their advantage: the Blame Window. This is the period during which you can hold your predecessor responsible for the challenges you are now facing.

One might naturally ask, as I did, how long after you’ve assumed a new role can you blame your predecessor? And how would one go about throwing him or her under the bus?

My research yielded no credible answers to these questions, so I developed the following handy formula (Fig. 1) to help executives calculate their available Blame Window:

Caution: this formula can be dangerous if not used judiciously. Here are some important tips to remember:

First, make sure you get the math right. There is nothing more embarrassing than miscalculating the Blame Window and having the whole situation blow up in your face. Set some reminders in Outlook 90, 60, 30 and 7 days prior to the expiration of the Blame Window so you will know when to stop blaming your predecessor.

Second, do your homework before you start laying on the criticism. Was your predecessor revered or scorned? Respected or tolerated? Make sure to get these and other data points before you start spraying around accusations. The last thing you want to do is tear into someone who is a company legend or, worse, someone who is deceased.

Third, make sure to select the right way of broaching the subject with your superiors. Here are some preambles to get you started:

• Jocular: 'Gee, if I’d known all this before I would have asked for a lot more money, ha-ha-ha!'
• Nothing Personal, Just Business: 'I’m sure was a good guy, but ...'
• Delicate but Direct: 'I don’t want to cast aspersions on anyone, but now that I’ve gotten my feet wet ...'
• Mildly Annoyed: 'I have to tell you I’m not sure what I’ve gotten myself into here ...'
• Threatening: 'If you think I’m going to take the fall for any of this, you can just find yourself another CFO.'

By the way if you don’t like this column, it wasn’t my idea, it was Jim Garrettson’s. (Just kidding.)

Feedback or ideas? Please send to feedback@londonsinklings.com.

Bob London is president of London, Ink LLC, a full-service marketing and communications firm and serves as a Virtual VP of Marketing for growth-stage companies that need hands-on project-based leadership in marketing strategy and planning. More information is available at www.londonink.com.

Transfer Pricing: What All Multinationals Need to Know

Carolyn Fanaroff
Of Counsel, Greenberg Traurig

High-profile, high-dollar transfer pricing adjustments by the Japanese taxing authority, the National Tax Agency (NTA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) remind companies that governments take transfer pricing seriously. In the last month, NTA has assessed additional tax from Takeda Chemical, Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company ($1.1 billion), Sony ($653 million), Procter & Gamble ($53 million), Mazda ($64 million), Mitsubishi Corporation ($19 million), Mitsui & Company ($22 million) and Sharp ($1.7 million). Symantec, maker of Norton Anti-Virus, made headlines when earlier this year the IRS hit it with an adjustment of over $1 billion, not including penalties of $300 million.

A transfer price is the amount that related parties buy and sell goods, services, and intangible assets to each other. Any multinational company engaged in cross-border, related-party transactions uses transfer prices in order to conduct their business. Companies may set their internal prices without regard to tax consequences, but each country wants to tax its share of the multinational’s profit. The IRS devotes its best resources to transfer pricing enforcement, recently announcing more transfer pricing penalties in 2006 than in any year since the penalty entered into force in 1996.

To protect the tax base of each country, the U.S. and our trading partners agree on an internationally accepted standard: companies must set up their intercompany cross-border transactions at arm’s length. In addition, companies must document their transactions and provide that documentation to the IRS (and other countries’ taxing authorities, too) when asked. To comply, companies determine the arm’s length value of functions and risks performed in each country and match income and expenses to functions and risks. Double taxation can occur if the taxing authorities of the countries involved do not agree on how to value the transactions.

Proper analysis, done internally or by a consultant, and documentation can significantly lower a company’s risk of a transfer pricing adjustment. In addition, companies seeking certainty can request an advance ruling, called an Advance Pricing Agreement (APA), in which the IRS and the taxpayer agree on an arm’s length price for the company’s transactions. In a bilateral APA, the countries where a company does business agree on proper transfer pricing, giving a company rock-solid certainty. Nonetheless, if companies do get a transfer pricing adjustment in the U.S. or abroad, they can request assistance from the U.S. Competent Authority Office at the IRS. When the U.S. has a tax treaty with the other country, it can attempt to negotiate a settlement. Though often a lengthy process, it is usually successful.

Carolyn Fanaroff, currently Of Counsel at Greenberg Traurig, worked in transfer pricing for 11 years at the Internal Revenue Service.

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