Ask HN: US presence needed?

#1

Post by calculus » Fri, Mar 16, 2012, 9:38 AM UTC

I'm planning to start a SaaS startup and I want it to be located in US (more business friendly that my country, access to stripe.com, easier from a marketing pov...) while staying in my country (with regular business travels to US). But to do so, I'll need an American co-founder for the non-technical side (from paperwork to social marketing and much more).

Do you think it's doomed to failure because of the non physical proximity between the founders ? If not, how to find such a partner ?

Re: Ask HN: US presence needed?

#2

Post by thaumaturgy » Fri, Mar 16, 2012, 10:57 AM UTC

I know next to nothing about this kind of thing, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in here, but you might look into registering as a Nevada corporation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_corporation

There are a handful of benefits to incorporating in Nevada, not least of which is that the entire process has become its own sort of industry, with other businesses set up just to inexpensively help you work out the paperwork and maintain the necessary legal presence in Nevada for you. One such service (http://www.incparadise.net/) specifically says that you don't need to be a U.S. citizen or have a U.S. address to register as a Nevada corporation. That plus a mail forwarding service (also offered by the same company) plus a few other magic tricks should let you get set up with Stripe -- I've never tried that though, so don't know for sure.

Might be something to look into, anyway. Certainly a lot cheaper than finding a co-founder.

Re: Ask HN: US presence needed?

#3

Post by calculus » Fri, Mar 16, 2012, 11:24 AM UTC

thaumaturgy wrote: post #2

I know next to nothing about this kind of thing, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in here, but you might look into registering as a Nevada corporation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_corporation There are a handful of benefits to incorporating in Nevada, not least of which is that the entire process has become its own sort of industry, with other businesses set up just to inexpensively help you…

I already looked at the possibility of incorporating in Delaware/Nevada. It's quite easy, but opening a "real" bank account and registering with Stripe will require an american SSN.

And for the co-founder, I do not search a soulless paperwork filling monkey, but a real partner to take charge of all the important non-technicals tasks, like marketing to the US, sales driving, etc etc.