[HN Gopher] Launch HN: StartPack (YC S20) - Helping Global SMBs ...
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Launch HN: StartPack (YC S20) - Helping Global SMBs Access US
Banking & Payments
Hi HN! I'm Arjun, one of the co-founders of StartPack
(https://startpack.io/). StartPack helps US and non-U.S. small and
medium businesses (SMBs) set up U.S. based bank accounts so that
they can accept payments from customers globally. We take care of
everything you need to form an LLC, set up a bank account, accept
payments, and manage ongoing compliance and tax filings. When my
co-founder JP and I started our US company, it was too complex and
time-consuming, especially as a non-US team. We were looking to
create a Delaware C Corp but as JP was a non-US resident we did not
know how to properly form our company, and make sure we were fully
compliant with US tax laws. We ended up setting up our C Corp and
it cost us money (thousands total) and time: even after "forming"
we were bogged down in paperwork regarding compliance for our
company, ensuring we had submitted forms to the IRS correctly (83-b
elections) and we felt in the dark around maintaining our company +
having support around what to do. Sure "forming the entity" was
fast but after that, we really had no clue what to do / what was in
store. As we went through a pivot from our first company, we were
going through the process of setting up yet another company and
realized we wanted an "initializer" that would start our company
for us, but not just stop there. We wanted someone (or something)
to help us maintain our company, and provide long-term support in
case we had any questions or needed help. This got us thinking: why
can't a startup / product deal with this so we can focus on
building our business, instead of forming it and maintaining it?
For any entrepreneur, just "starting" a company isn't the goal.
Growing a business is. This is hard enough... then there's
_everything else_ founders have to deal with and spend valuable
time on. We 've learned (and personally know from our experience)
that founders don't want a checklist of things to do. They want
someone who can handle it for them. Not a one-time offering that
forms a company. But a long-term partner, where the incentives are
aligned to provide ongoing support and handle all the
administrative work. And also help setup and maintain the initial
stack of software and accounts needed to get a business off the
ground. The bigger thing we've realized is that despite the fact
that SMBs power the global economy, they're often overlooked when
it comes to forming and maintaining a US company. Most founders
globally don't want to raise US venture capital (and don't need a C
Corp); they want to build a profitable bootstrapped business and
try to create something from scratch or sell something online. SMBs
don't raise millions in capital. SMBs don't make the front page of
TechCrunch. But people who start SMBs are still entrepreneurs just
like anyone else and they are overlooked (or not even supported).
We want to help small and medium businesses globally launch and
maintain a US LLC, get access to US banking + and access US
payments. This is what fires us up about working on StartPack. So
many people out there don't even realize it's possible to form an
LLC as a non-US resident and being able to make this reality come
true for creators, e-commerce sellers and SMB founders, even one
company at a time, is incredibly rewarding. Let us know if you
have any feedback, questions, comments or thoughts, we're more than
happy to answer and looking forward to hearing what HN thinks of
StartPack!
Author : arjawn
Score : 39 points
Date : 2021-03-21 16:25 UTC (6 hours ago)
| terhechte wrote:
| Congratulations on the launch! Greetings to JP!
| arjawn wrote:
| Thank you so much!!!
| jpincheira wrote:
| Thanks so much man! Greetings back :)
| nolite wrote:
| I love this. I've been waiting for this for a long time. Do you
| handle formation in low-tax jurisdictions as well? (Wyoming,
| Nevada)
| arjawn wrote:
| Hey! Yes we do! Wyoming is actually one of our most popular
| states :) We can handle LLC formation in any US State!
| superasn wrote:
| I setup a stripe atlas account long time back and they gave me a
| Delaware inc for $500.
|
| It was an impulse decision and i Haven't had much user for it
| except a few recurring subscriptions that are enough to pay for
| $25/mo that svb charges + $500 Delaware annual franchise charges
| + $300 that greenback charges annually.
|
| Let's say if instead of doing that i used your services, are
| there any cost saving? Just asking since you guys are already
| here.
|
| P.s. I'm a solo founder with no employee in US and at the time I
| setup the account the only option was inc.
| arjawn wrote:
| Hey! Before I can ask this, question for you, are you raising
| venture capital now or plan to in the future? If so then a C
| Corp is the right decision!
|
| Re taxes, first a disclosure: I am not a tax professional and
| this is purely information advice
|
| Depending on your business and whether or not you have
| effectively connected income to the US + a physical presence in
| the US, there might be a situation where an LLC would have tax
| savings. However, I cant answer this professionally / I'd need
| more info from you to even give you a high level answer on my
| side. However, if you DM me on Twitter (@arjmahadevan) I'm
| happy to see if I can connect you with a resource or CPA who
| might be able to help you here!
| csomar wrote:
| > We ended up setting up our C Corp and it cost us money
| (thousands total)
|
| Using your Pricing page, it'll cost $4.141 to kickstart an LLC
| for a non-US resident. The biggest costs being "Form 5472/1120
| Tax Filing", getting an "ITIN/EIN" and bookkeeping. That being
| said, if you assume doing the "whole shebang", then I think you
| got something here. Most of the services you happen to find just
| want to incorporate and get you out of the door. Incorporating is
| easy (and relatively cheap) but everything else is expensive and
| risky.
|
| Another question: Why no Delaware C Corp option? I understand
| that you are targeting SMB, but for non-residents I think the C
| Corp makes more sense).
| arjawn wrote:
| Hi!
|
| Re incorporation alone: I 100% agree with you, incorporating
| alone is relatively easy! Sure it might be a bit of a headache
| to do the paper work but its but it's the ongoing
| compliance/filings that can be the true headache. We hope to
| offer everything that an SMB needs in-house through StartPack
| so that it's hassle free to have a solution right away. But
| even if we can't provide the solution, we'll partner / find
| someone who can help! For example, we get asked all the time
| about "trademarks" which is something we can't do but we then
| go out and do research on who can so we can help people find a
| solution for this!
|
| Re Delaware C Corps: If we don't believe we can offer the best
| long-term value then again, although we could help people "form
| C Corps" easily, we wouldn't be the best long-term partner. For
| example, someone forming a C Corp might be doing so to raise US
| venture capital! And if this is the case, at some point in the
| future (or right away) they will likely need legal counsel to
| help them finalize their round, update fundraising documents,
| review legal templates etc! Examples of some of these documents
| might be board consents, SAFE templates, offer letters, advisor
| or consulting agreements, restricted stock issuances, NDAs and
| more. And examples of maintenance that might need to be done
| could be adding or removing directors, making changes to your
| number of authorized shares etc.
|
| If you are forming a Delaware C Corp some options are Clerky,
| Gust Launch, Stripe Atlas and of course, if you are going to
| need US legal counsel, then your legal counsel can also help
| you form your C Corp too!
| artembugara wrote:
| Hi Arjun, congrats on your launch!
|
| I'm a non-US who knows a bit about going through the US
| incorporation.
|
| I've never considered an LLC because of the pass-through taxation
| which is pretty much impossible when you're outside of the US.
|
| Stripe Atlas used to support LLC for non-US but they stopped it
| because they found that people recklessly open it but cannot run
| when they are non-US residents.
|
| So, how does your product help those non-US resident with an LLC?
| arjawn wrote:
| Hi Artem, thank you so much!
|
| Disclosure: I am not a tax or legal professional and this is
| purely informational advice
|
| We get asked about taxes all the time (from US and non-US
| residents) so we partner with and work with tax and legal
| professionals who can not only answer questions for people and
| provide professional advice but they can also help people with
| any tax related work that people want help with. Note: you are
| not required to pay or work with a tax professional for tax
| related filings or requirements but often times it can be
| easier and save time to do so.
|
| Now regarding "taxes for non-US residents" here is an
| informational tl;dr: - If you are a 25% Foreign-Owned (or more)
| U.S. Corporation or a Foreign Corporation Engaged in a U.S.
| Trade or Business you have an "informational filing
| requirement." Note this isn't a "tax filing" requirement but it
| is still a filing that is required annually:
| https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-5472 - If you have
| "effectively connected income" with the US, then you have a US
| "tax" obligation and this filing is required:
| https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-nr
|
| If there are many questions on this I'd actually be happy to
| put together an FAQ doc or a webinar with a CPA / Tax
| Professional!
| mrkurt wrote:
| I love this because I need, like, two LLCs per year for random,
| probably short lived, things.
| arjawn wrote:
| Hey! thanks so much, I'm super curious (if you're able to share
| publicly) what you form your LLC for?
| mrkurt wrote:
| Mostly just random projects with my brother. Most of them go
| nowhere but it's a clean way to kick things off that involve
| money.
|
| Why is Wyoming the default, out of curiosity?
| arjawn wrote:
| Ah got it!
|
| And Wyoming and Delaware are actually the two most popular
| options for non-US residents :)
|
| If you are a US resident what we've learned is forming an
| LLC in the state you live in / "do business in" is the best
| option. If anyone is curious about how to choose the "best
| state" to form your LLC in or more on "Wyoming vs Delaware"
| check out this post we wrote which dives in to this!
| https://www.startpack.io/blog/what-is-the-best-state-to-
| form...
| CuriousPerson23 wrote:
| Hi Arjawn. Congrats on the new business, its a well needed area.
| Do you have any thoughts on StartPack vs Firstbase.io and Stripe
| Atlas?
| arjawn wrote:
| Hey! thanks so much! Here's how we think about StartPack in
| terms of existing options out there today: - We actually only
| support LLCs. Certain options out there actually don't support
| LLCs for non-US residents. - We're different than "one-time
| formation offerings" because we fundamentally believe 1) the
| incentives are not aligned for one-time offerings. We've heard
| directly from the creators and online SMBs who choose use that
| they don't want a checklist of things to do after forming a
| company, they want someone (StartPack :) ) who can handle the
| ongoing work for them 2) we handle all the annoying
| administrative work creators and online SMBs don't want to deal
| with + we help them set up and manage software/accounts they
| need as well to launch, maintain and grow their business.
|
| At the end of the day, our goal is to help entrepreneurs not
| have to deal with anything else other than focusing on what
| they do best: growing their business
| Jake232 wrote:
| What bank options/introductions are available?
|
| Are you providing introductions to first tier banks via
| connections (Chase, BoFA, etc) or is it simply to something such
| as Mercury?
| arjawn wrote:
| Hey Jake!
|
| First off, we provide folks with everything they need to apply
| for a business bank account in the first place: LLC, EIN. We
| also offer a US address + US phone number if that is something
| people want us to help them with too!
|
| From there our philosophy is we do not force customers to use
| any particular banking option. With the above, you technically
| can open a bank account at any bank.
|
| However, only certain banks allow non-US residents without a US
| SSN to 1) apply and 2) apply _without visiting the US_. Mercury
| is one example of this (well the only example I know of as of
| now :) ).
|
| We are more than happy to provide links and requirements of
| other banks which we do for customers but when people
| (especially non-US residents) find out they have to fly to the
| US to open an account then that bank isn't really an option.
|
| If you're curious to see an overview of how to apply for a US
| Business Bank account, check out this thread:
| https://twitter.com/arjmahadevan/status/1349771706865504260
|
| We also wrote this blog post which goes through several banking
| options and highlights whether or not you can apply with a US
| SSN, remotely etc here: https://www.startpack.io/blog/how-to-
| open-a-us-business-bank...
| [deleted]
| Fjolsvith wrote:
| How would this work under Public Law?
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| Do you support US citizen founders who intend to be expats and no
| longer reside in the US?
| arjawn wrote:
| Hi! We do support US and non-US residents and US + non-US
| citizens!
| arjawn wrote:
| One thing to add here: certain banks do have restrictions
| around what country one is a resident in regarding whether or
| not they are able to open an account for you. For example,
| you can check out the list of supported countries for Mercury
| here! https://mercury.com/faq
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| Thank you so much for the replies!
| arjawn wrote:
| Of course!
| ttoinou wrote:
| Cool, but we can already access US payments from a lot of
| countries already with Stripe (not talking about Atlas here), no
| ?
| jpincheira wrote:
| We're different than Atlas and people prefer us over them (and
| others) because we're much more than just incorporating, and
| leaving you out there alone navigating all the challenges. We
| support founders along the way.
|
| Once, one of our customers said "most services out there throw
| you to the wolves after you paid". You get the point.
| ttoinou wrote:
| I am not talking about Atlas. If we incorporate somewhere
| else than the USA we can still use Stripe payments, hence get
| paid from the USA out of the USA
| soozzoos wrote:
| What's the difference between you and firstbase?
| arjawn wrote:
| Hey! Touched on how we view StartPack in terms of existing
| options out there today in another comment below but can re-
| paste below :)
|
| Here's how we think about StartPack in terms of existing
| options out there today: - We actually only support LLCs.
| Certain options out there actually don't support LLCs for non-
| US residents. - We're different than "one-time formation
| offerings" because we fundamentally believe 1) the incentives
| are not aligned for one-time offerings. We've heard directly
| from the creators and online SMBs who choose use that they
| don't want a checklist of things to do after forming a company,
| they want someone (StartPack :) ) who can handle the ongoing
| work for them 2) we handle all the annoying administrative work
| creators and online SMBs don't want to deal with + we help them
| set up and manage software/accounts they need as well to
| launch, maintain and grow their business. At the end of the
| day, our goal is to help entrepreneurs not have to deal with
| anything else other than focusing on what they do best: growing
| their business
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(page generated 2021-03-21 23:01 UTC)