Agenda 7/06

Relax and celebrate, if only for a weekend, especially if you just closed the books on a successful fiscal year.

By Stephanie Clifford |  @stephcliff   | 
 

July 1

The Anniversary of the Stamp
The United States issued the first official postage stamps, featuring the Founding Fathers, on this day in 1847. Surprisingly few business whizzes have been honored with a stamp, among them Robert Fulton (1965), Andrew Mellon (1955), Henry Ford (1968), and cosmetics pioneer Madam C.J. Walker (1998).

July 1

A Beach Read From One of Your Own
Keith Raffel, an entrepreneur who sold his CRM firm, UpShot, to Siebel Systems for $70 million in 2003, publishes a surprisingly entertaining whodunit today. The book Dot.dead focuses on a Silicon Valley executive who must contend simultaneously with workplace intrigue and a murder investigation (Midnight Ink, $14).

July 6

The First-Mover Advantage Really Does Apply
The festival of the running of the bulls in Pamplona starts today. An evocative visual metaphor for staying ahead of the pack or just a crazy European thing? Take your pick.

July 15

Remembering a Great Wartime Entrepreneur
Ninety years ago today, a young man named William Boeing incorporated a business to commercialize a seaplane that he and a friend had built in his Seattle boathouse. When that design didn't sell, Boeing personally guaranteed a loan to cover payroll. Then the U.S. entered World War I and demand for Boeing's planes got a major lift. Now there's a guy worth a stamp.

July 31

Important Tax Deadlines
Last year's employee benefit plan report (Form 5500), the quarterly return (Form 941) and the federal excise tax return (Form 720) for the second quarter, and FUTA tax owed through June are due.

Read more:

  • Meet the New Masters of Cash Flow
  • When It's OK to Ignore Costs
  • Why You Should Pay More Taxes

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