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IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

indiehackers.com

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Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#221

Post by kluck »

wingerlang wrote: post #208
itwy wrote: post #189

Isn't it ironic the details of the acquisition isn't being transparently shared? From Indie Hackers site: "Anyone with a business or side project that's generating at least $300/mo in revenue. There's no upper limit. Of course, you have to be willing to share your revenue — the point of this site is transparency!" Source: https://www.indiehackers.com/submit I think we have the "right" to know what the transaction ent…

The selling price seems very different from 'revenue per month' though.

Revenue is about $6000 per month and the costs for running the site are probaly quite low, minus the costs for the owner himself, so maybe monthly profit is around $4000? So given the formula for non-internet companies which are valued around 2-3 times the annual profit, the company would be worth around $120000.

Additionally consider these facts: the site is quite popular and has gained some traction but is still primarily interesting for a specific niche (startup founders). I would say the price for acquisition is at least $500000 and may very well be around or above 1 million which is even more likely because the owner has agreed to continue work on the site and growing it even more.

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#222

Post by csallen »

fpgaminer wrote: post #192
mezod wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the word is "betrayed". And you are not alone in feeling in such way. IH outright lost its essence and what gave sense to it.

I don't feel betrayed, no. There are plenty of companies interviewed on IndieHackers.com that started as small shops and eventually got acquired. I've got nothing against that, obviously. It's a great opportunity to cash out and do something else fun. It's just weird to have IndieHackers.com, which I sort of viewed as a bastion of the movement, suddenly no longer part of it. At the end of the day ... I'd probably do…

Thanks fpgaminer for following along and being one of the few crazy people (including myself) to have read so many interviews!

Totally understand your view about the acquisition... but I wouldn't say Indie Hackers is no longer part of the movement. I'm not cashing out and doing something else. Rather, I'm going back to spending all of my time improving the site itself and trying to make it more useful to more people. Yes, Stripe is helping me do away with all sponsorships!

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#223

Post by nebulon »

justinclift wrote: post #156
markdown wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't UK incorporating a breeze? I'm sure I heard it can be all done online.

Yeah, that was an option until Brexit happened. My co-conspirator :) is based in Germany, so setting something up there might be the better idea. Haven't researched that at all (yet), as we're still focused on getting the foundational tech working decently first (progressing fairly well, it's mostly grunt work). But, keeping an eye open meanwhile... :)

Hi, we have setup our company (UG) https://cloudron.io a bit over a year ago in Germany and used https://www.firma.de which was a breeze. They do all the heavy lifting preparing documents. Then you just have to show up physically at the bank and notary office to sign on the dates firma.de is telling you.

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#224

Post by charlesdm »

znebby wrote: post #220
charlesdm wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you understand the tax consequences, incorporating in the US should be avoided at all costs.

Why? LLCs are pass-through entities. US residents will get taxed as income, and non-US residents will not have to pay any tax if their income is not effectively connected with a US trade or business (which basically means that employees do not do any of the work within the US).

Different countries have different laws. What might be seen as "pass through" under US law can sometimes be seen as opaque in an EU country, for example. Sometimes the situation or the double taxation treaty (if there is one) offers no clear solution.

Most western countries also have CFC laws you need to be aware of. CFC laws are essentially "see through" taxation laws to combat tax avoidance, looking through certain corporate structures you would use to avoid tax, e.g. by somehow siphoning off money (legally, through IP payments, interest payments, etc) to a zero or low tax entity somewhere.

I've had some tax disputes before and I can tell you: most of these civil servants are unaware of the international context they're operating in. They mainly audit local restaurants, bookstores, etc. Nothing "exotic". Talking to them, before you meet with some people higher up, can literally be a crapshoot. Some countries, for example, might try to tax your US LLC income as dividend income, before applying corporate (or personal income) tax to it again.

This is obviously often incorrect, but given most people set up US entities because they're cheap / etc (or at least some of the people using Atlas do), you should be aware that a dispute with your local tax authority can follow. Because they are the ones losing current and future revenue. Those can have nasty consequences if you don't have the funds available to hire, say, a good tax lawyer.

That said, totally agree Atlas (or setting up a US LLC) can be super valuable. Just make sure your tax situation is looked at, at home.

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#225

Post by justinclift »

nebulon wrote: post #223
justinclift wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that was an option until Brexit happened. My co-conspirator :) is based in Germany, so setting something up there might be the better idea. Haven't researched that at all (yet), as we're still focused on getting the foundational tech working decently first (progressing fairly well, it's mostly grunt work). But, keeping an eye open meanwhile... :)

Hi, we have setup our company (UG) https://cloudron.io a bit over a year ago in Germany and used https://www.firma.de which was a breeze. They do all the heavy lifting preparing documents. Then you just have to show up physically at the bank and notary office to sign on the dates firma.de is telling you.

Thanks, I'll check them out when we're at the stage of investigating the right place to setup. :)

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#226

Post by nicholas73 »

nitam wrote: post #41
pc wrote: post #18

Patrick from Stripe here. I wanted to quickly chime in to emphasize that our goal in acquiring Indie Hackers is to simply ensure that the site becomes as successful as possible. The Stripe upside we're hoping for is that more companies get started and that they're more successful . We already see a very large fraction of new internet companies choose Stripe; we're mainly hoping that Indie Hackers can help us grow the…

You can help us help you by a) becoming available in more countries b) Atlas LLC

+1 Atlas LLC. Safe to say many of those featured on IndieHackers are also LLC.

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#227

Post by glenneroo »

kirillzubovsky wrote: post #146
pc wrote: post #18

Patrick from Stripe here. I wanted to quickly chime in to emphasize that our goal in acquiring Indie Hackers is to simply ensure that the site becomes as successful as possible. The Stripe upside we're hoping for is that more companies get started and that they're more successful . We already see a very large fraction of new internet companies choose Stripe; we're mainly hoping that Indie Hackers can help us grow the…

You guys are my favorite startup and it's great to see that you're not just focused on the bottom line, but also doing good for the world. Very few do. Keep on rocking, pc!

> ...doing good for the world.

Too bad they are only US-based.

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#228

Post by cjrp »

mariusandra wrote: post #138
markdown wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't UK incorporating a breeze? I'm sure I heard it can be all done online.

From my experience you can do everything online + post, except for the bank account. However the reality might have changed in the 3 years which have elapsed. There might be some new bank that lets you get away with it online. However, the UK is moving in a strange direction as well. For a decent EU option, look at Estonia. Get a digital ID card from one of their embassies and you can use that with your computer to o…

>There might be some new bank that lets you get away with it online.

Yep, https://www.tide.co (even MetroBank which I used was all online and only took a few days.

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#229

Post by pryelluw »

wheelerwj wrote: post #203
pryelluw wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you define legitimate content? Super interested.

non-sensationalized, technical accurate accounts of entrepreneurship. not, "it was built it in 3 months." while conveniently leaving off that it was springboarded from a previous veture that took 3 years to develop a base for.

That last part seems very specific. Any particular example you are thinking about?

Re: IndieHackers.com acquired by Stripe

#230

Post by pc86 »

Mz wrote: post #170
pc86 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One has to wonder if 20-25% of your submissions make people angry if you're doing the right thing. But hey you're the one with the acquisition, not me. So great job!

So, basically, you expect people to be psychic and know in advance what will tick people off. Since you expect that, they are obviously and intentionally up to no good if other people get mad. Because: Logic.

I don't expect that at all. But I'm willing to bet there were common threads in those 20-25% of posts.
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