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Stripe Atlas

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Re: Stripe Atlas

#331

Post by ascorbic »

lstamour wrote: post #282
cynical_sheet wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- State filing fees = $50 - Processing fees(paying someone to file for you, obtain EIN etc.) = $50 - Registered agent service = $100/year - EIN for foreigners = $50

EIN is free, obtained by phone if a foreign individual is setting up the company, or if you've already called, it appears you can use the website to set up an EIN for a local company so long as it's a subsidiary (even international) of a company with an existing EIN. Theoretically slashes $100 off the cost. ;-) Registered agent... that's a tricky one. I saw this advice on Reddit: "Lots of small business law firms wil…

Top tip: use Skype, make yourself comfortable, and block out at least an hour to be on hold.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#332

Post by michaelschade »

abalone wrote: post #330

Dumb question: Why is this positioned mainly for non-U.S. entrepreneurs? Isn't a $500 setup kit useful for U.S. startups too? You get: $15,000 of AWS credits, easy incorporation & bank account setup, tax/legal advice. Even if you don't ever take a consumer payment, that seems useful (even if only for the AWS credits!). No?

Not a bad question! We see the biggest need in non-US markets, especially for banking, but think it's great if Atlas ends up helping US entrepreneurs too!

Re: Stripe Atlas

#333

Post by tedmiston »

grellas wrote: post #259

If Atlas is implemented as promised (probably a safe assumption given the Stripe team), it will afford founders throughout the world a pain-free entry point into the world's most advanced economy, opening the way for key financing, for seamless payments processing, for ease of banking transactions to get people paid and to move funds easily, and for access to advice and guidance from people in the know to address a w…

> The legal piece on this is vital but almost in tow, as it were. A standard Delaware C corp is the only option, which is adequate for a start but will clearly not meet the needs of a potentially huge number of founding teams that may have differing circumstances.

I know a C corp is the bay area standard, but at least in the midwest many startups still begin as LLCs for simplicity. I hope the Atlas team considers this for future work.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#334

Post by dreamfactory2 »

thepangolino wrote: post #321
karmelapple wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live hundreds of miles away from my bank's brick and mortar, and when I call, I think I'm still a bit of a novelty to them. "This customer doesn't actually walk into the building ever? Fun, I want to talk to the mystery person on the phone!"

As a European, the US banking system seems to be stuck in the mid-twentieth century.

This sounds about right as the US would have hit market maturity much earlier in the tech cycle. Same with mobile networks, which are also backwards compared to those in Europe which came later and leapfrogged due to advances in tech and incremental improvements. And now we start to see the same effect in Asia, which is beginning to make Europe look like a backwater.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#335

Post by briandear »

pbreit wrote: post #276
grellas wrote: post #259

If Atlas is implemented as promised (probably a safe assumption given the Stripe team), it will afford founders throughout the world a pain-free entry point into the world's most advanced economy, opening the way for key financing, for seamless payments processing, for ease of banking transactions to get people paid and to move funds easily, and for access to advice and guidance from people in the know to address a w…

I'm still a little confused on whether or not this is better than incorporating in your own country. Is this more geared to accelerator startups who are thinking of moving to the US? Certainly US incorporation is not required (or even all that helpful?) in establishing a US presence?

Try incorporating in India. Massive headache. Same for banking in many countries. Atlas solves a very painful problem for many founders.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#336

Post by Panos »

libertymcateer wrote: post #304
dreamfactory2 wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see a marginal convenience factor but I'm struggling to see anything beyond that. Is it that hard to incorporate and set up a bank account in the US? Incorporation in the UK is a 10 buck 10 minute online process already and opening a business account is only harder really due to money laundering regs which I don't think would be solved by 3rd party automation.

> Is it that hard to incorporate and set up a bank account in the US? Yes. Yes it is. Let me put it this way: Setting up a corporation is trivial. Setting up a bank account can be a literally insurmountable hurdle for a business that is not based in the US. Banks can choose to let individuals and businesses open new accounts purely within their discretion, and as often as not they want the business owners to be physi…

This is a regulatory requirement, part of the "Know Your Customer" doctrine. In plain words, banks are required to know who is the client who has opened an account.

Most banks will be risk averse and will not open an account to anyone applying online from abroad. Even for US persons applying online, they will ask quite a bit of documentation.

Some banks (but not all) will open an account for a non-US person, when the non-US person physically visits a US branch, with proper identification (typically a passport) and documentation on why they want the account. But even in such cases, it is up to the discretion of the bank employee to decide whether the risk of opening an account for a non-US person is worth the benefit. So, the same bank may give different replies to the same inquiry, depending on the branch asked.

As a concrete example, TD Ameritrade will open easily an account for a foreigner in the Chinatown branch in NYC, but will not open an account when the same customer visits a branch in midtown in NYC.

Re: Stripe Atlas

#337

Post by michaelschade »

glossyscr wrote: post #131
michaelschade wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the registered agent address would be in Delaware. The third party facilitating the incorporation won't show up in the Delaware filings, though there will be a registered agent and address on file. (You don't need to do anything to fill that out beyond signing up for Atlas.) No need to come to the US for the bank account or any other part of the process.

> registered agent and address on file so somebody but not me, right?

Yep. (Though the incorporator -- you or whomever is signing up -- would also be listed on the Certificate of Incorporation.)

Re: Stripe Atlas

#338

Post by michaelschade »

tedmiston wrote: post #333
grellas wrote: post #259

If Atlas is implemented as promised (probably a safe assumption given the Stripe team), it will afford founders throughout the world a pain-free entry point into the world's most advanced economy, opening the way for key financing, for seamless payments processing, for ease of banking transactions to get people paid and to move funds easily, and for access to advice and guidance from people in the know to address a w…

> The legal piece on this is vital but almost in tow, as it were. A standard Delaware C corp is the only option, which is adequate for a start but will clearly not meet the needs of a potentially huge number of founding teams that may have differing circumstances. I know a C corp is the bay area standard, but at least in the midwest many startups still begin as LLCs for simplicity. I hope the Atlas team considers thi…

We are looking into it :-)

Re: Stripe Atlas

#339

Post by conductr »

"SVB will share more details about your account’s complete fee schedule and functionality once your bank account is open."

no deal

Re: Stripe Atlas

#340

Post by demianbrener »

Olscore wrote: post #95

While I don't have much to add, this is very interesting and almost feels patriotic (as an American.) Stripe is, in a way, hacking the global economy and luring entrepreneurs to the do business in the United States. While this iteration may fall short of perfection, or open questions, it also opens up some imagination and interesting ideas or possibilities. Could this be the beginning of startups offering citizens of…

That's something we are building at BitCorps.co. Stripe Altas is a great alternative if you want to set up your business in the US. We let you operate in our supported countries as if you had a local entity.
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