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Stripe Atlas

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Re: Stripe Atlas

#81

Post by michaelschade »

glossyscr wrote: post #68

While I really like the idea—a one stop-shop company creator I am a bit unsure if Stripe will achieve the same quality level like dedicated registries which do this for several years. Points I am missing/not seeing: - Can I decide about the administration location (eg also Delaware or does it have to be my actual location)? - Can I get some virtual office with address, mail forwarding, etc, sometimes offered by regis…

> - Can I decide about the administration location (eg also Delaware or does it have to be my actual location)?

> - Can I get some virtual office with address, mail forwarding, etc, sometimes offered by registry?

After incorporation, you’ll have a registered agent in Delaware with a corresponding address. We’re looking at adding support for incorporation in other geographies as we expand Atlas.

> - Is Stripe a full state approved registry or do they use 3rd party registries? What are the ongoing costs (there can be significant differences)?

We work with a third party service. More on costs here: https://stripe.com/atlas/faq#Are-there-any-additional-costs-...

> - I Striped stated as the registrant in the Delaware corp database?

Nope.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#82

Post by glossyscr »

I just checked the prohibited businesses https://stripe.com/de/prohibited-businesses

I am fine with most of them being prohibited but at some points it's getting quite restricted:

1. Virtual currency that can be monetized, re-sold or converted to physical or digital products or services or otherwise exit the virtual world

4. Sexually-oriented or pornographic products or services

9. Engaging in deceptive marketing practices (here: who decides what is 'deceptive')

14. Age verification

15. Age restricted products or services (which are the most products/services)

50. Centralized travel reservation services or travel clubs

Re: Stripe Atlas

#83

Post by zrail »

glossyscr wrote: post #82

I just checked the prohibited businesses https://stripe.com/de/prohibited-businesses I am fine with most of them being prohibited but at some points it's getting quite restricted: 1. Virtual currency that can be monetized, re-sold or converted to physical or digital products or services or otherwise exit the virtual world 4. Sexually-oriented or pornographic products or services 9. Engaging in deceptive marketing pra…

Most of these are from Stripe's partner banks, and/or they've proven to be exceptionally prone to fraud and chargebacks.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#84

Post by eis »

novaleaf wrote: post #78
pentae wrote: post #63

This is huge. As someone who is involved in the digital nomad community here in Chiang Mai, Thailand - getting incorporation and processing set up for a lot of people here is very difficult. Although places like Thailand are a great place for independent bootstrapping and there’s a solid network of entrepreneurs - one of the biggest hurdles is incorporation, banking and acquiring. This is taken for granted when you’r…

i can also vouch for this. I founded and ran a software company in Thailand for 8 years, and regret doing it the "right" way (incorporated) because of the administrative burdens associated with taxation. Additionally due to US banking laws (anti terror yadda yadda) it is very difficult to do business on the internet unless you have a bank account in the USA (or perhaps EU etc.. just an account somewhere besides Thail…

Yup it's really frustrating and ineffective to form a company here in Thailand. They really don't want all that startup money even though they could really make use of it.

Try Hong Kong, Singapore or other stable and modern countries with rule of law. You wont have much trouble doing online business.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#85

Post by jjoe »

michaelschade wrote: post #15
koolba wrote: post #6

Interesting angle. For a while I've wondered why nobody does a tech/startup version of "Company in a box". This looks like it's exactly that. Incorporation, payment processing, the works. Is Stripe getting a cut of the eventual revenue from the service providers that are providing the offerings? What's the incentive on their side? Or are they just hoping to scrape by on the transaction fee revenue (which are way less…

Nope, we're not looking to make money off the incorporation, though we of course hope the companies become successful Stripe customers!

The $500 is above market rate for an LLC + US bank account. Do you think this cost will be revised down sometime in the future? Another challenge is that some folks can get in serious trouble (ie. imprisonment) with their local government for even having a foreign bank account. This is because local governments see it as a drain of foreign currency reserves like the USD/EUR, which are much needed by the country in question for imports. So this info needs to be kept top secret. What measures does Stripe take to prevent this kind of info from leaking?

Re: Stripe Atlas

#86

Post by karussell »

soneca wrote: post #75

Wow! This solve so many problems that our startup (www.worldpackers.com in Brazil) have! We are a global marketplace, so we have to charge people from everywhere, and stripe still doesn't cover Brazil. Opening a Delaware company is a must have as we are starting a series A fundraising. And the network, wow! BUT... I wonder how achievable is the direct application as a way for getting in the beta. We are not part of a…

Don't you have a local payment processor being able to process global payment? Or what about paypal?

Re: Stripe Atlas

#87

Post by pentae »

eis wrote: post #74
pentae wrote: post #63

This is huge. As someone who is involved in the digital nomad community here in Chiang Mai, Thailand - getting incorporation and processing set up for a lot of people here is very difficult. Although places like Thailand are a great place for independent bootstrapping and there’s a solid network of entrepreneurs - one of the biggest hurdles is incorporation, banking and acquiring. This is taken for granted when you’r…

You don't need the US for that though. You can incorporate for example in Hong Kong with ease and even better tax advanteges. For digital nomads in Thailand I think the bigger problem is that they can't get long term visas and are effectively breaking the law unless they somehow work for a local company which isn't easy as those need 4 Thais employed for every foreigner. And even if you could get a corporate bank acc…

Hong Kong is a great place to incorporate for tax advantages, but a terrible place for getting merchant processing or a bank account.

Remote openings are not possible. You can fly to Hong Kong and open a bank account in person, and they may (or may not) open one for you - but getting payment processing for a Hong Kong corporation with no processing history is basically impossible for the average person.

I have a Hong Kong company and I know many people who also have Hong Kong companies, and I speak from experience.

As for your other points about Thailand, you’d be wrong about that also - Thailand has no problem with you working independently or from coffee shops at all, it is not against the law and getting long term visas or even self-funded work permits for long stays is trivial.

As for companies, you can set up a BOI company for technology corps which is tax exempt for the first 8 years and the 4 thais for every foreigner rule is not applied, as I have.

However, in a round about way you have proved my point - living in these types of locations is preferable, but doing business here is usually not. Hence, why people incorporate elsewhere and the Stripe Atlas product nails it.

Cheers

Re: Stripe Atlas

#88

Post by lpsz »

michaelschade wrote: post #81
glossyscr wrote: post #68

While I really like the idea—a one stop-shop company creator I am a bit unsure if Stripe will achieve the same quality level like dedicated registries which do this for several years. Points I am missing/not seeing: - Can I decide about the administration location (eg also Delaware or does it have to be my actual location)? - Can I get some virtual office with address, mail forwarding, etc, sometimes offered by regis…

> - Can I decide about the administration location (eg also Delaware or does it have to be my actual location)? > - Can I get some virtual office with address, mail forwarding, etc, sometimes offered by registry? After incorporation, you’ll have a registered agent in Delaware with a corresponding address. We’re looking at adding support for incorporation in other geographies as we expand Atlas. > - Is Stripe a full s…

Off topic, but as a long term Earth Class Mail customer, so glad to see it mentioned and potentially getting more attention. It has been a lifesaver while living abroad.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#89

Post by glossyscr »

michaelschade wrote: post #81
glossyscr wrote: post #68

While I really like the idea—a one stop-shop company creator I am a bit unsure if Stripe will achieve the same quality level like dedicated registries which do this for several years. Points I am missing/not seeing: - Can I decide about the administration location (eg also Delaware or does it have to be my actual location)? - Can I get some virtual office with address, mail forwarding, etc, sometimes offered by regis…

> - Can I decide about the administration location (eg also Delaware or does it have to be my actual location)? > - Can I get some virtual office with address, mail forwarding, etc, sometimes offered by registry? After incorporation, you’ll have a registered agent in Delaware with a corresponding address. We’re looking at adding support for incorporation in other geographies as we expand Atlas. > - Is Stripe a full s…

Michael, Thanks for your quick answers! Highly appreciated!

> Not at the moment, though we're looking at more locations as we continue to expand Stripe Atlas

So, it would be Delaware as the administration location, right? (which I would prefer)

>> - I Striped stated as the registrant in the Delaware corp database? > Nope.

So the 3rd party registry would appear there, right?

And it's correct that the customer doesn't have to visit the states for opening the bank account?

Re: Stripe Atlas

#90

Post by [deleted] »

michaelschade wrote: post #81
glossyscr wrote: post #68

While I really like the idea—a one stop-shop company creator I am a bit unsure if Stripe will achieve the same quality level like dedicated registries which do this for several years. Points I am missing/not seeing: - Can I decide about the administration location (eg also Delaware or does it have to be my actual location)? - Can I get some virtual office with address, mail forwarding, etc, sometimes offered by regis…

> - Can I decide about the administration location (eg also Delaware or does it have to be my actual location)? > - Can I get some virtual office with address, mail forwarding, etc, sometimes offered by registry? After incorporation, you’ll have a registered agent in Delaware with a corresponding address. We’re looking at adding support for incorporation in other geographies as we expand Atlas. > - Is Stripe a full s…

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