picture by Wikipedia
Come, young entrepreneurs, sit down, I have a story to tell.

About four years or so ago, I started a search marketing agency with a friend. But you know that.

About a year or so into Current Wisdom, we were generating quite a bit of money. But you know that, too.

Around that time, I began to party. A lot. But you know that too.

What you dont know, is that during the better part of the time Current Wisdom was up and running, I paid little to no taxes.

Why?

Because it was more fun to spend the money on partying.

And, boy, did I spend money on partying, which included a ton of sales calls and client engagement, so I never felt too bad about it. And, I figured that the big, bad IRS would just not think about little old Micah.

So time passed. I paid a bit here and there, but mostly avoided the taxes.

Until a couple weeks back.

I went to use my debit card, and it came back declined. That hadnt happened in years.

After watching Willie Nelson at Red Rocks (irony!), I went home, I checked my bank account.

What did I see, but a negative amount, about 4Gs.

WTF! I exclaimed, and saw a withdrawal.

It was the IRS, and dammit, they took it all.

Thats right boys and girls. I was broke.

Because the IRS doesnt play around.

They took some flesh, about a pound.

(Which is cool, because is means a pound of my flesh runs well over $20,000.)

Ok. I am done with the rhyming.

The IRS took everything except for $100.01. The bank took $100 as a service charge to allow the IRS to take all my money. The horse head in my account was a single penny.

After spending 5 years without having to worry about money; I now have very little. I am looking to sell assets, such as some of my art. Perhaps even my car (to eliminate the monthly car note). Ive had to borrow money from my father (for the first time in like 10-15 years), and I have figured out a payment plan with the IRS.

What does that all mean?

It means that all the hard work; all the late nights; all the blood, sweat and tears on Current Wisdom, has left me with a single penny. Thats it.

Could it have been different? Of course. Was I an idiot? Of course.

But, I see my friends Matt Galligan, Ben Brightwell and Brian DeWitt, of SocialThing and Jon Fox and Issac Keyet of IntenseDebate experiencing the high of selling their companies.

And with the continued success of TechStars, I assume that many more will follow their footsteps.

Besides the silly comments that I have heard again and again (“You sold a company, so you must be buying dinner!”) and the vast amount of financial advice they will receive (from good and bad people), I can only think of one piece of advice to offer.

“Pay your taxes. The IRS doesnt mess around.”

Popularity: unranked [?]