Go to places where your potential customers are looking for help.
Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
41–50 of 52 posts
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#42Stripe takes a hefty cut. Use USDC. Costs a fraction of a penny and settles in less than a second.
Still shilling crypto even in 2024 ?
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#43Stripe takes a hefty cut. Use USDC. Costs a fraction of a penny and settles in less than a second.
No explanation, just downvotes? Standard Stripe fees on $250k revenue: - 2.9% + 30¢ per charge - Assume net-30 invoices - Total fees: 2.9% * $250k + 30¢ * 12 = $7,253.60 - Stripe can freeze your money arbitrarily and indefinitely Standard USDC fees on Solana: - Less than 1 cent per transaction - Total fees: < 12¢
Hint: It is not about the fees. The 3% fee is a much smaller problem to have than what the world of crypto brings. Oh and while we are at it, remind me how to get majority of customers to pay in crypto who are used to just credit cards or wires ?
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#44People you know is the only worthwhile client pipeline.
So start with people you already know.
And work on getting to know more people.
To a first approximation, every potential client who wants a contractor has one. There are only two likely categories of potential clients who will cold call you:
1. Potential clients with no track record.
2. Potential clients with a track record of bad relationships with previous contractors.
Potential clients with no track record might become good clients. Or they might become clients with a bad track record.
Potential clients with bad track records are best avoided.
Potential clients with good track records are highly unlikely to work with a new contractor because ongoing relationships with contractors are part of what makes them good clients.
Experienced contractors move heaven and earth to hold on to good clients.
Basically modulo people who know you, the potential clients for new contractors is a lemons market. Good clients are already in long term relationships...again, long term relationships are what makes clients good clients.
The LLC, Stripe, etc. are pretend work. Without clients your liability is zero, and there is no need for a payments mechanism.
Finding clients is all that matters. It matters more than doing the work well.
Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#45Stripe takes a hefty cut. Use USDC. Costs a fraction of a penny and settles in less than a second.
Still shilling crypto even in 2024 ?
Standard Stripe fees on $250k revenue:
- 2.9% + 30¢ per charge
- Assume net-30 invoices
- Total fees: 2.9% * $250k + 30¢ * 12 = $7,253.60
- Stripe can freeze your money arbitrarily and indefinitely
Standard USDC fees on Solana:
- Less than 1 cent per transaction
- Total fees: What's your argument?
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
No explanation, just downvotes? Standard Stripe fees on $250k revenue: - 2.9% + 30¢ per charge - Assume net-30 invoices - Total fees: 2.9% * $250k + 30¢ * 12 = $7,253.60 - Stripe can freeze your money arbitrarily and indefinitely Standard USDC fees on Solana: - Less than 1 cent per transaction - Total fees: < 12¢
Hint: It is not about the fees. The 3% fee is a much smaller problem to have than what the world of crypto brings. Oh and while we are at it, remind me how to get majority of customers to pay in crypto who are used to just credit cards or wires ?
> The 3% fee is a much smaller problem to have than what the world of crypto brings.
That's not an argument. Name the problems specifically.
> Oh and while we are at it, remind me how to get majority of customers to pay in crypto who are used to just credit cards or wires
There are tons of off-the-shelf checkout flows that allow customers to pay in cash and companies to receive the funds on chain.
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's interesting, what industries do your clients work in?
Trading and finance. It makes sense that they are crypto friendly, given their close proximity to it. I suspect the rest of the commercial world will become much friendlier to it as more and more businesses are onboarded. The pros vastly outweigh the cons and if you need something like escrow (or another trusted intermediary) then you can always revert to the legacy financial system for that. Both have their use case…
Would it be correct to expand that the clients are in crypto-trading and crypto-finance?
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#48You might be able to find some here, or on LinkedIn. What are some projects u have done in the past? Where r u located? What US time zones will u overlap with? What do you charge?
@OP: Don't refer to anything in your communications as "u" or "ur" or the like. It will result in an instant discard from most reputable clients. I mentioned above that there are other (better) competitive axes than price. Clear English communication is definitely one of them.
mAyB3 itz FUNNZ0rZ to type ur txt liek dis!
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree with both you statements: Why is it a terrible time? What's wrong with setting up a US entity? Actually from a US employer perspective you have a bit more recourse if you need to use the legal system than someone operating entirely out of a foreign country.
Been contracting for 7 years and there's been a 10x in opportunities from Q42023 to Q12024. Things are looking very up.
You wanna share some tips on getting first few clients? any platform or just start sending emails and calling directly to them? Thanks
Re: Ask HN: Opened a LLC in USA, where should I look for clients?
#50An old joke about new product development at Apple went “First design the icon, then make the t-shirts.”
Setting up an LLC and the other superficial trappings of a real business amounts to making the t-shirts. You have no customers, no idea how to get customers, no insight into the market from a contracting perspective.
You can find plenty of freelancing & contracting advice online, useful and not so useful, if you do the work. Mostly it distills down to contacts and reputation. Posting the equivalent of “I’ve set the table, how do I cook the meal?” seems like a big ask.