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I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
101–110 of 342 posts
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#102Earlier 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.
It's overrated until a customer decides to sue you. Also there are very few downsides to incorporating and limited liability is a massive upside.
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
> although LLC formation might cost $800 in California That sounded really high, so I looked it up here: http://www.sos.ca.gov/business-programs/business-entities/fo... It looks like CA is $70, unless I'm missing something. I've never started an LLC in CA though. (EDIT: keep reading down the thread for more clarification.) (But: there's another thread here that says IL is $500, which does appear to be correct.)
The $800 usually mentioned is actually the yearly minimum tax for an LLC in CA. From the LLC-1 form: "Filing Form LLC-1 will obligate most LLCs to pay an annual minimum $800 tax to the California Franchise Tax Board. For more information about taxes, go to https://www.ftb.ca.gov."
Awesome, thanks for the clarification!
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#104Is Stripe different than PayPal besides maybe having a better API? Is Stripe a subset of PayPal?
Website integration is incredibly simple. Standard UI is also much better. PayPal also has a terrible reputation for holding money and bad customer support which Stripe doesn't. I integrated Stripe into a website with almost zero web dev knowledge. Really, really simple.
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Austria, you don't need any capital at all, to start a EPU (One-Person-Company) which is really convenient.
Same in Denmark; you only need capital for certain kinds of limited liability companies.
Limited Liability Companies are "real" companies that you need to do real things like take investments or take on other people as partners, without putting your other assets (houses, etc...) at risk.
Unless you're doing something super simple, you don't want to mess around with a "single proprietorship" or the like.
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it's any consolation, the same is true for the best jobs in just about every industry.
I would understand if that would be the case for the best jobs , but it seems all of them are like that.
I used to feel the same way; my first dev job came through someone I met at a tech meetup.
I've since found a couple of good ones by cold applying. What helped the most was reading a couple of books about sales.
Essentially, when you're applying with a cover letter and resume/CV, you're making a very short sales pitch and need to make the most of it. The good news is that most cover letters and resumes people send out don't have this focus at all, so it's relatively easy for you to stand out.
Sometimes, the hardest part is accepting that there's nothing wrong or dishonest about selling yourself. When I've reviewed resumes in the past to decide who to interview, I've found that most of them overlook the fact that I have a problem I'm trying to solve, and I'm looking for someone to help me solve it. If the first sentence on your resume/cover letter shows me that you've read the job posting, understand the problems I'm trying to solve, and tells me why you're the right person to help solve them, you really stand out from the competition.
YMMV, of course. What I've observed may be atypical, and it's entirely possible I've just had good luck.
It's just worth remembering that while cold applications tend to have a low success rate, applications sent in response to job postings are really, really awful. Being non-awful significantly helps your chances, but not as much as meeting people and building a strong network.
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#107Is this at all related to MYOB's Atlas?
https://www.myob.com/au/small-business/atlas-website-builder
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#108Earlier 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.
Don't forget the expensive bus insurance.
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#109Patrick writes in the article:
> I never thought I could build a Fog Creek, but I saw a bunch of other geeks building Poker Co-pilot and Perfect Table Plan and skeet-shooting scoring software, and I was pretty sure I could at least do something like that.
I'm the geek who built (and continues to run) Poker Copilot. Patrick got the order of events backwards.
What actually happened is that I started Poker Copilot in a large part because Patrick inspired me by managing to launch a software product (Bingo Card Creator) after just one week of development.
All the best working for a boss again, Patrick! I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting twists and turns in the years ahead in this remarkable life of yours .
Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas
#110I 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.
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…
Be careful with that. In the US a single-owner corporation can (and regularly does) have courts "pierce the veil" of limited liability. Simply incorporating and calling yourself a company is not sufficient to limit your liability.