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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/ 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!
- mrkurt 6y agoI love this because I need, like, two LLCs per year for random, probably short lived, things.
- arjawn 6y agoHey! thanks so much, I'm super curious (if you're able to share publicly) what you form your LLC for?
- mrkurt 6y agoMostly 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 6y agoAh 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-my-llc-in https://www.startpack.io/blog/what-is-the-best-state-to-form...
- CuriousPerson23 6y agoHi 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 6y agoHey! 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