5 ms·

If you include your personal living expenses, then $10,000 isn't going to go very far. You'll also need to do some consulting work while you build your product.

If you include your personal living expenses, then $10,000 isn't going to go very far. You'll also need to do some consulting work while you build your product. If you're just talking about company expenses, then $10,000 will go a long way. You need $500 to set up a company with Stripe Atlas [1], $100 to purchase the initial shares, $100/yr for a registered agent, and $100/yr to file taxes. You can do your own bookkeeping or use Bench for $135/mo. Stripe Atlas also gives you $5k of free AWS credits, so you don't have to pay for hosting for a few years. Then you can spend the ~$9k on whatever you want (other SaaS services, design, landing pages, etc.) Apart from the Stripe Atlas fee and share purchase, I didn't put any money into my company. I was still doing contract work and wasn't taking any money out of the company, so it was "profitable" as soon as I had a single paying customer. I think ~$1,000 is probably the bare minimum if you want to start a company and bootstrap a SaaS product. But it's always better if you can have a healthy bank balance for unexpected things. [1] https://stripe.com/atlas https://stripe.com/atlas

ttul 8y ago
My “$10,000” was one of those 0% interest Visa card cheques, combined with renting out two rooms in my house to students to net my rent out to zero. And then eating cheap vegetarian food. I don’t advise this as the optimal path. I think it is far wiser to spend your time researching a strategy that you can sell to rich investors, and using their actual money rather than your ramen noodles.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- client4 8y ago
  I'd have to agree. For mental health it's much easier, though I do think you learn a lot about your grit in accomplishing a goal when you commit to Ramen for X time.
alexpetralia 8y ago
However much I love Stripe branding, I just want to remind everyone that it is _really easy_ to set up your own LLC/Corporation for $150-200 as well as a business bank account (for free), rather than using the "package deal" offered by Stripe Atlas. If anyone's interested, I recommend Harvard Business Services (Delaware registered agent is $50, Delaware filing fee is $90, and HBS takes a cut of $50 if you use them for both parts). For a business bank, there are several (free) options and the one that Stripe Atlas has partnered with, Silicon Valley Bank, does not have close to the best reputation. Edit: The AWS credits however substantially change this calculus.
- edoceo 8y ago
  Careful with Delaware, shares and taxes. If I hadn't consulted a CPA I would have had a large tax burden. This is a pretty good write up: https://www.cooleygo.com/so-you-owe-thousands-in-delaware-franchise-tax/ https://www.cooleygo.com/so-you-owe-thousands-in-delaware-fr...
  - jzig 8y ago
    According to that article it seems specifically related to corporations (C or S), but the parent comment advocated for LLCs.
    - vonmoltke 8y ago
      What's the advantage of Delaware if you want to do an LLC?
      - edoceo 8y ago
        Delaware is regarded as business friendly, investors like it (more so than eg:North Dakota). Investors means C-Corp.
      - Redoubts 8y ago
        You get to pay Delaware tax as well as registered foreign agent fees in your home state.
coder543 8y ago
> $100/yr to file taxes Do you actually feel confident that you're filing business taxes correctly by yourself? If so, how did you get to that point? The IRS and the tax code are not things to be trifled with, and I wouldn't want to take any shortcuts there.
- nathan_f77 8y ago
  Yes, Stripe Atlas connects you to an accountant who offers a tax preparation package at a very discounted rate. I didn't do anything by myself, I just paid $100 and they filed everything for me. It's perfect for when you're just starting out and don't have much revenue. (My first tax return was just for a few hundred dollars.)
  - newnewpdro 8y ago
    Are you affiliated with Stripe?
    - nathan_f77 8y ago
      Not at all, I just had a really good experience setting up my company with Stripe Atlas, and would highly recommend it.
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Wow, that's a fantastic price. Turbotax Business is at least $170.
goldfeld 8y ago
With current exchange rate and living expenses, where I've always lived, it'd last at least 3 years.
- nathan_f77 8y ago
  Oh right, yes that's very possible in many parts of the world. One of the most frugal people I know lived on slightly less than $10,000 per year [1] while traveling around the world. That sounded extremely low to me, but you have to remember that the worldwide median income is about $10,000 [2]. [1] https://thedeepdish.org/2017-spending/ https://thedeepdish.org/2017-spending/ [2] https://news.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-household-income-000.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-househo...
zawerf 8y ago
Note even though it's a delaware LLC, if you live in california you still have to pay CA taxes of around $800 yearly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16960172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16960172

ttul 8y ago

My “$10,000” was one of those 0% interest Visa card cheques, combined with renting out two rooms in my house to students to net my rent out to zero. And then eating cheap vegetarian food. I don’t advise this as the optimal path. I think it is far wiser to spend your time researching a strategy that you can sell to rich investors, and using their actual money rather than your ramen noodles.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
client4 8y ago
I'd have to agree. For mental health it's much easier, though I do think you learn a lot about your grit in accomplishing a goal when you commit to Ramen for X time.

alexpetralia 8y ago

However much I love Stripe branding, I just want to remind everyone that it is _really easy_ to set up your own LLC/Corporation for $150-200 as well as a business bank account (for free), rather than using the "package deal" offered by Stripe Atlas. If anyone's interested, I recommend Harvard Business Services (Delaware registered agent is $50, Delaware filing fee is $90, and HBS takes a cut of $50 if you use them for both parts). For a business bank, there are several (free) options and the one that Stripe Atlas has partnered with, Silicon Valley Bank, does not have close to the best reputation. Edit: The AWS credits however substantially change this calculus.

edoceo 8y ago
Careful with Delaware, shares and taxes. If I hadn't consulted a CPA I would have had a large tax burden. This is a pretty good write up: https://www.cooleygo.com/so-you-owe-thousands-in-delaware-franchise-tax/ https://www.cooleygo.com/so-you-owe-thousands-in-delaware-fr...
- jzig 8y ago
  According to that article it seems specifically related to corporations (C or S), but the parent comment advocated for LLCs.
  - vonmoltke 8y ago
    What's the advantage of Delaware if you want to do an LLC?
    - edoceo 8y ago
      Delaware is regarded as business friendly, investors like it (more so than eg:North Dakota). Investors means C-Corp.
    - Redoubts 8y ago
      You get to pay Delaware tax as well as registered foreign agent fees in your home state.

coder543 8y ago

> $100/yr to file taxes Do you actually feel confident that you're filing business taxes correctly by yourself? If so, how did you get to that point? The IRS and the tax code are not things to be trifled with, and I wouldn't want to take any shortcuts there.

nathan_f77 8y ago
Yes, Stripe Atlas connects you to an accountant who offers a tax preparation package at a very discounted rate. I didn't do anything by myself, I just paid $100 and they filed everything for me. It's perfect for when you're just starting out and don't have much revenue. (My first tax return was just for a few hundred dollars.)
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  Are you affiliated with Stripe?
  - nathan_f77 8y ago
    Not at all, I just had a really good experience setting up my company with Stripe Atlas, and would highly recommend it.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Wow, that's a fantastic price. Turbotax Business is at least $170.

goldfeld 8y ago

With current exchange rate and living expenses, where I've always lived, it'd last at least 3 years.

nathan_f77 8y ago
Oh right, yes that's very possible in many parts of the world. One of the most frugal people I know lived on slightly less than $10,000 per year [1] while traveling around the world. That sounded extremely low to me, but you have to remember that the worldwide median income is about $10,000 [2]. [1] https://thedeepdish.org/2017-spending/ https://thedeepdish.org/2017-spending/ [2] https://news.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-household-income-000.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/166211/worldwide-median-househo...

zawerf 8y ago

Note even though it's a delaware LLC, if you live in california you still have to pay CA taxes of around $800 yearly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16960172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16960172