First, you have to pay tax on the gift card, as it’s income.

On top of that, to actually use the iPhone, you have to switch to AT&T and get the iPhone plan.

If you were using a plain-jane cell phone before that, your monthly fee is likely to move than double.

If you’re already using another smartphone with a similar plan, like a Palm Pre on Sprint with their unlimited data plan, you are still going to spend almost $2000 more over the life of the contract for the iPhone service under typical usage.

Just give away $500 cash.

by Scott Edward Walker
Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC

Below is a brief review of episode 13 of “This Week in Startups.” My overall rating: 8.6.

The Good

1) Jason Calacanis was, as always, outstanding: he is bright, engaging and extremely knowledgeable with respect to the technology industry. Moreover, he is a highly-successful entrepreneur (and CEO) and thus is able to provide strong, practical advice to budding entrepreneurs.

2) The “Ask Jason” segment was the highlight of the show. Indeed, the format offers Jason the opportunity to shine, and he does. His “pitch” advice was spot on; and his passion for helping fellow entrepreneurs is contagious.

3) Jason has a strong team, including Tyler (his right-hand man) – who is chock full of interesting insights.

The Bad

1) The show was too lengthy (over two hours) – and not enough time was devoted to interviewing the guest, Matt Mickiewicz. Perhaps futures shows can be split into two parts (thus creating two shows per week): part I would be devoted to a serious, substantive interview – like the interview of Brian Alvey in Episode 1 (which was off the charts); and part II (without the guest) would be devoted to the different segments — i.e., “Ask Jason”; “Homework”; “News”; and “Deadpool.”

2) Andrew Warner is a good guy (and his mixergy.com interviews are solid), but the “News” segment needs a little “T&A” for the ratings. Vanna White was mentioned during the show. Why not bring in a Vanna White-type newscaster? She can also do a little “shake and bake” and drop the applicable company card into the “deadpool” (or fill the pool with some water and have her jump in with Fondue and Taurus – just kidding).

3) Tyler must be removed from the space bubble. Perhaps you can give him a seat at the table for the “Ask Jason” and “Homework” segments; and maybe down the road (when the budget grows), you can send him out live onto the streets of Santa Monica in search of entrepreneurs to “Ask Jason.”

The Ugly

1) There is a certain lack of professionalism at times, including audio issues and too much time spent on non-startup issues (e.g., advice about dating women, poker games, etc.). There is indeed a fine line between informality and unprofessionalism.