Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

kalzumeus.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 342 posts

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#221

Post by markdown »

cperciva wrote: post #80
edwinwee wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We only support incorporating in Delaware at the moment, but are hoping to add other locations in the future!

Can I suggest British Columbia, Canada? It's an English-speaking country, not in the middle of an existential crisis, and BC has very flexible incorporation requirements (you must have at least one director, who can live anywhere in the world; you may appoint officers but there is no requirement to do so; shares can be with or without par value, and if with par value that value can be specified in any currency; et ce…

> who can live anywhere in the world

Must the director be a Canadian citizen or permanent legal resident?

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#222

Post by tptacek »

idlewords wrote: post #97
losvedir wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh wow, that surprises me. Does that mean pinboard isn't a Delaware C-Corp like everything seems to be? I suppose it makes sense since everything about it screams "the anti-startup", but I'd be curious to know what the real ramifications of going about it that way are.

Nope, nothing but a logo, a tiny server farm, and a long series of tweets. I spooked myself into starting the process with LegalZoom at some point, but then couldn't figure out how to transfer assets, and then I got real sleepy.

You get a tax ID, online, and use that to open a business bank account wherever your normal bank account is.

Just saying. :)

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#223

Post by firebones »

tom_b wrote: post #146
tptacek wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It turns out --- I'm speaking for at least Erin and I, but I suspect to an extent Patrick too --- we don't have the stomach for the contingency recruiting model. Referring someone for an interview and watching them get turned down was, for me at least, about 80% of the psychic cost of applying myself and getting turned down. Fuck that. It's a job that is possible to do and possible to do well and my life is too short…

Thomas, were many starfighters you referred not getting offers? I love the idea of a (properly scoped) project/challenge in the hiring process and find myself profoundly worried when no code gets discussed in tech interviews. I also really enjoyed stockfighter challenges. Between those six and my university's copy of Harris' Trading and Exchanges, I learned quite a bit. I bailed out on the AVR challenges though. From…

I wonder whether there was some element of "those who have an inclination and ability to complete Starfighter may be insanely qualified from one set of screening criteria, but not from the criteria that resonates with people hiring employees".

In other words, maybe it turned out to be a better filter for self-starters who might be nascent entrepreneurs (reflecting the founders who created it), but sometimes those characteristics aren't what hiring companies are looking for when they have a specific role to fill.

Sometimes you interview people who would be outstanding in certain roles or for certain companies--but maybe not the one you happen to be currently working for.

I'm struggling here, but FizzBuzz is effective as a tool to weed people out, but FizzBuzz taken to the extreme doesn't necessarily equate to a tool to rule people in.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#224

Post by [deleted] »

idlewords wrote: post #113
blackbagboys wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What becomes of that other $30k? I assume there's a reason why you wouldn't just pay yourself $30k and keep the tax-free $70k.

It has to sit within the company. You can use it to buy an ice sculpture for the office lobby, but not for your own palazzo. As you can imagine, there is a ton of bookkeeping and bureaucratic pain associated with having an S-corp (like pretending to have annual meetings, and having to write minutes for them).

[deleted]

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#225

Post by Keyframe »

walterstucco wrote: post #190
davidw wrote: post #2

Sorry to hear about starfighter, but it looks like you've more than landed on your feet. Good luck! I think with a big company at your back, you may be able to leverage that to do some great things. People in the US have no idea how easy they have it with creating a company, something I helped to fix a little tiny bit in Italy: https://blog.therealitaly.com/2015/04/16/fixing-italy-a-litt... One of the key points: > A…

not anymore in Italy you can create a new type of company: S.r.l.s. (società a repsonsbailita limitata semplice) with only a few hundreds euros I'm italian and owner of an S.r.l.s.

Same in Croatia, 100 Euros for a j.d.o.o. (simple limited liability company) vs cca. 4000 Euros for d.o.o. (limited liability company 3k for capital, 1k expenses). I still wouldn't recommend, since VAT is 25% and capital gains is 20% (which is ok). Bulgaria and Romania have better terms and are within EU too.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#226

Post by tptacek »

idlewords wrote: post #58

I don't see any advantage in incorporation if you want to run your own private business, but I'm willing to accept that I'm being the weirdo here.

* Contracts you've made with hosting providers and other services expire when your company does, not when your personal assets are liquidated.

* Same goes for anyone who sues you.

* Business partners and clients won't deduct taxes from your invoices, but often will if you're a sole proprietor.

* If you ever have employees and later liquidate the company, you can have arranged in advance for them to get a portion of the proceeds, which may or may not be motivating earlier on in the company.

Maybe few of these apply to you, since if you get sued you'll surely just flee to Antarctica to snark from amongst the penguins, who are likely to be the only employees you'll ever have either way.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#227

Post by tptacek »

rev_bird wrote: post #77
idlewords wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vs sole proprietorship.

Liability protection, if nothing else. If someone sues a company, they can't (in theory) take the CEO's house. Also, in the US, you can save a bunch of money on payroll taxes if you elect to be taxed as an S-corp. The short version is that you only pay those taxes (Social Security, FICA, Medicare, etc etc) on money you get in paychecks -- so, if you make $100k in a year and "pay" yourself $70k, you end up with the ot…

It's probably not a good idea to try to "save money" on your taxes by claiming a low income and distributing yourself whatever's on the balance sheet later on; it's apparently a notorious audit flag.

Respectfully: it's also unethical, if you think about it carefully. Pay full freight on your payroll taxes: if you make so much much money that this dodge is material to you, you're the last person who should have a loophole to take advantage of.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#228

Post by tptacek »

idlewords wrote: post #113
blackbagboys wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What becomes of that other $30k? I assume there's a reason why you wouldn't just pay yourself $30k and keep the tax-free $70k.

It has to sit within the company. You can use it to buy an ice sculpture for the office lobby, but not for your own palazzo. As you can imagine, there is a ton of bookkeeping and bureaucratic pain associated with having an S-corp (like pretending to have annual meetings, and having to write minutes for them).

The other half of the "claim a low salary" S-corp dodge is that distributions (the standard way LLC's pay their principals, and the standard way S-corps pay "profit sharing") aren't payroll-taxed (technically: aren't self-employment taxed).

So I think the trick here is, you pay yourself $70k in salary, but issue yourself a $30k profit sharing distribution.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#229

Post by chimeracoder »

idlewords wrote: post #90
nstj wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incorporated entities enjoy the benefit of "limited liability"[0], ie: if your company does something "bad" you can't be liable beyond your share capital contributions. For example, if you make a self driving car and sell it, and it results in harm, and someone sues the company, you can't lose any of your personal assets; rather your only loss can be the capital which you put into the company. tl;dr: if you do someth…

I think for businesses like "running a website" this threat is overrated, to the point of absurdity, but again: willing to accept that I'm the weirdo.

Wait, does that mean that Pinboard is being run under your own name personally, as opposed to being part of an LLC or other corporate structure?

If so, I have to say, that would make me a lot more concerned as a customer.....

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#230

Post by chimeracoder »

idlewords wrote: post #90
nstj wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incorporated entities enjoy the benefit of "limited liability"[0], ie: if your company does something "bad" you can't be liable beyond your share capital contributions. For example, if you make a self driving car and sell it, and it results in harm, and someone sues the company, you can't lose any of your personal assets; rather your only loss can be the capital which you put into the company. tl;dr: if you do someth…

I think for businesses like "running a website" this threat is overrated, to the point of absurdity, but again: willing to accept that I'm the weirdo.

Wait, does that mean that Pinboard is being run under your own name personally, as opposed to being part of an LLC or other corporate structure?

If so, I have to say, that would make me a lot more concerned as a customer.....

Post reply on HN