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    1. Does anyone here have any experience or knowledge about selling a services business?

      Disclaimer: I will not make any money off of this sale. I am just asking for my old boss with whom I built this company. Even though I don't work there and have no stake, I just want to solicit...

      Disclaimer: I will not make any money off of this sale. I am just asking for my old boss with whom I built this company. Even though I don't work there and have no stake, I just want to solicit the best advice on her behalf. I can give more details via a PM as she doesn't want to spread the word yet.

      The business is a vacation rental company located in a premier resort town in the USA. It has existed since before airbnb was even a thing. The business is very profitable and technologically self-reliant. She has spent a decent amount on technology so that there aren't multiple outsiders taking a slice of each rental. I can provide the rough numbers via PM. The SEO is already #1 in the market. The company owns its office building, and multiple vacation rentals which could be packaged in with the sale.

      It is the largest vacation rental company in the local vicinity, so selling to a direct competitor doesn't seem likely. It would seem to be the ideal sale/purchase for someone who is wealthy and is looking to retire early, live in a tropical setting, make money, and still have something to do. However, maybe contacting the larger, more corporate vacation rental businesses on the mainland would be the best option?

      Google searches for this are an SEO disaster which is why I am asking here. Are business brokers necessary for something like this? It is so niche that I really just don't know what to look for. Any feedback would be appreciated.

      Edit: to add, it is completely turn-key. Everything could be left as it is, with all current employees. Aside from executive decisions the only thing that the owner did, since we scaled to dominate the local market, was write the ad copy because she is really good at that. She only physically spent a couple months of the year there in the last few years. The only reason she is considering selling is due to aging-out.

      7 votes
    2. Fermi problem game thread

      I thought it might be fun to make a little game out of asking Fermi problems and trying to work out solutions to others'. What is a Fermi problem? A Fermi problem is (to quote wikipedia ): an...

      I thought it might be fun to make a little game out of asking Fermi problems and trying to work out solutions to others'.

      What is a Fermi problem?

      A Fermi problem is (to quote wikipedia ):

      an estimation problem designed to teach dimensional analysis or approximation, and such a problem is usually a back-of-the-envelope calculation. The estimation technique is named after physicist Enrico Fermi as he was known for his ability to make good approximate calculations with little or no actual data. Fermi problems typically involve making justified guesses about quantities and their variance or lower and upper bounds.

      Basically, these are questions that would be very difficult to calculate exactly without looking up the answer. The goal is to arrive at a good estimate by making justified assumptions. As such, looking up facts and statistics should be minimized or outright avoided (e.g., if the question is "What is the mass of the water in Lake Michigan?", you shouldn't look up Lake Michigan's volume to aid your answer. This should be estimated from things you know off the top of your head).

      The way this thread works

      1. If you have a Fermi problem, post it as a top level comment.
      2. If you have a solution to an already posted Fermi problem, post it as a reply to that comment. Be sure to post your reasoning and thought process.

      Fermi problems can be fun to come up with, and fun to answer. Examples of Fermi problems might include:

      • How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? (this one is apparently one that Fermi came up with himself)

      • How many keystrokes occur worldwide, daily?

      • What is the mass of the water in Lake Michigan?

      • How many cars are there in New York City on a given day?

      • How many blades of grass are there on the National Mall?

      • How many eggs are consumed in the US each day?

      Since many of these have no definitive answer, it is not always possible to score the 'correctness' of an answer. Nonetheless, others can judge when an answer makes reasonable assumptions, so feel free reply to answers with suggestions of which assumptions can be refined or further justified.

      21 votes
    3. Should I setup an LLC for my consulting?

      I have had a varied work history for the last decade but it has all been W-2. I now find myself doing consulting engagements and I am wondering if I should setup an LLC for this work. My main...

      I have had a varied work history for the last decade but it has all been W-2. I now find myself doing consulting engagements and I am wondering if I should setup an LLC for this work. My main concern is actually limiting liability, and of course I am interested in possible tax advantages.

      Has anyone else done this? If so, what’s the best way to set this up? Stripe has a program, I imagine legalzoom does as well..

      7 votes
    4. #GenerationLockdown: Two Australians shake up America with viral anti-gun ad

      Here's the background story about the video: #GenerationLockdown: Two Australians shake up America with viral anti-gun ad And here's the video itself: Generation Lockdown (The video is not graphic...

      Here's the background story about the video: #GenerationLockdown: Two Australians shake up America with viral anti-gun ad

      And here's the video itself: Generation Lockdown (The video is not graphic in any way. It's safe for work. Whether it's safe for your emotions is a different matter.)

      23 votes
    5. Reddit custom logos nostalgia

      Right now there's a little doodle for the reddit logo to congratulate UVA on winning the NCAA tournament last night and it really brought me back to the days when this was common. Fun times. Of...

      Right now there's a little doodle for the reddit logo to congratulate UVA on winning the NCAA tournament last night and it really brought me back to the days when this was common. Fun times. Of course you can't see it from the redesign, fittingly.

      You can see a catalog of every one there's been at r/logo.

      11 votes
    6. JavaScript toy that demonstrated a model of how demographics cluster

      A while back I saw a cool link on Tildes, I think it was before the save feature was implemented, which is why I've lost it. It was an article with an accompanying JavaScript toy to demonstrate...

      A while back I saw a cool link on Tildes, I think it was before the save feature was implemented, which is why I've lost it. It was an article with an accompanying JavaScript toy to demonstrate the point: if a system starts clustered, equality alone won't bring the system to equilibrium because the system has momentum. You have to swing hard in the other direction to get to actual equilibrium. (i.e. it was a defense of affirmative action.)

      Basically, you set some conditions meant to represent demographics. The people were represented by little squares in the simulation. The conditions were things like "start X% concentrated" and "squares must have 2/3/4 different colored neighbor squares."

      I think it was on Medium, but I'm not sure, and I can't for the life of me find it again even after scouring Tildes, Reddit, and Google. Anyone know what I'm talking about and where I can find it again?

      4 votes