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Stripe opens its Atlas program to US-based startups

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Re: Stripe opens its Atlas program to US-based startups

#12

Post by jl17 »

watsonc73 wrote: post #10

I'm a fan of Stripe generally and loved the concept of Atlas when I first heard about it. I'd be slightly concerned about the commitment bias that might creep in though for startups who rely on Atlas for all their incorporation and financial needs. As a future gatekeeper for some pretty crucial operational issues, do you see any risk in Stripe eventually becoming a dependency for startups? I'd compare it slightly to…

Using Stripe is completely optional AFAIK.

Re: Stripe opens its Atlas program to US-based startups

#14

Post by patio11 »

watsonc73 wrote: post #10

I'm a fan of Stripe generally and loved the concept of Atlas when I first heard about it. I'd be slightly concerned about the commitment bias that might creep in though for startups who rely on Atlas for all their incorporation and financial needs. As a future gatekeeper for some pretty crucial operational issues, do you see any risk in Stripe eventually becoming a dependency for startups? I'd compare it slightly to…

We incorporate real companies for real businesses. If one ever wants to e.g. get legal advice from a professional other than ones Atlas recommends, we’re more than happy for our companies to do that. (Many of them do, already.)

We see ourselves more as a builder of doors than a keeper of gates. There is a formidable wall of operational nonsense which separates entrepreneurs from building things and selling them to people. We want to get them through that as quickly as possible, rather than creating additional hurdles.

For similar reasons, Atlas is more than happy to help folks take payments with Stripe, but that’s not required or exclusive in any way. If your company thinks Paypal or Apple is a better way to get money from your customers, awesome; your company is no less able to transact with them than any other company. (We literally help people on our forums get set up with DUNS numbers to get on the App Store, for example.)

Re: Stripe opens its Atlas program to US-based startups

#16

Post by switz »

patio11 wrote: post #5
mixmastamyk wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When might the LLC track be ready? I'm looking forward to that. Thanks.

We ship first and then announce dates because down the other path lies disaster, but LLCs are a great way to incorporate many tech businesses, and Atlas aims to incorporate most tech businesses.

I'd just like to echo the sentiment that it would be fantastic if Atlas supported LLCs. Hope it comes around soon!

Re: Stripe opens its Atlas program to US-based startups

#17

Post by watsonc73 »

patio11 wrote: post #14
watsonc73 wrote: post #10

I'm a fan of Stripe generally and loved the concept of Atlas when I first heard about it. I'd be slightly concerned about the commitment bias that might creep in though for startups who rely on Atlas for all their incorporation and financial needs. As a future gatekeeper for some pretty crucial operational issues, do you see any risk in Stripe eventually becoming a dependency for startups? I'd compare it slightly to…

We incorporate real companies for real businesses. If one ever wants to e.g. get legal advice from a professional other than ones Atlas recommends, we’re more than happy for our companies to do that. (Many of them do, already.) We see ourselves more as a builder of doors than a keeper of gates. There is a formidable wall of operational nonsense which separates entrepreneurs from building things and selling them to pe…

Got it, thanks for clarifying Patrick. That sounds like a fairly clear ethical line in the sand so kudos for taking that position.

Good luck with the US launch :)

Re: Stripe opens its Atlas program to US-based startups

#18

Post by nebabyte »

chejazi wrote: post #13

I apologize for the begging, but if anyone has an invite, I would love to use Stripe Atlas with my co! chejazi@umich.edu

Why would anyone invite you without knowing what they're recommending?

For that matter, it sounds like the founder or someone who works there is in this thread, but even if you were going to appeal to them, the information you could give them would likely just be the same information that the (linked in the post) signup/product pitch page's application form would ask for.

And fundamentally, why would someone want to work with someone who wasn't proactive in figuring this out? I'm sure as Atlas grows they'll be happy to take your money regardless, but right now they obviously wish to filter out the noise as they likely have a vested interest in starting with the most success-oriented founders.

I can't imagine someone who didn't take the 2 minutes to figure out that they have a non-invite-requiring route, and that that's likely because they don't want to shut the door on anons like yourself asking for an in but don't want their existing members having to recommend people they don't know.

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