ZenPayroll is now Gusto • Hacker News Board

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#51

Post by jkestner » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:07 PM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #23

localcrisis wrote: post #12

First off, congratulations to the team. This is a big change and I'm sure a huge amount of work went into making this happen. I wonder what this says about the company's focus. They started out focused on payroll, with the BI press release saying they had 20k customers out of millions of small businesses. So obviously a lot more to be done and they are off to a good start. Which raises a few questions: Do they consid…

Wasn't payroll solved decades ago? How have companies been paying their employees? We paid our employees through BofA and it was cheap and easy.

It could be cheaper and easier. We used Wells Fargo's payroll service because it was quick to set up, but a big pain to use. .NET-style web interface from 10 years ago, impossible to get the report you wanted (or you have to pay for it if it was long enough ago, like many bank shenanigans), hard to understand, and worst, they'd send a sheaf of paper twice a month that I promptly shredded.

Using ZenPayroll now and processing payroll is painless and cheaper. The benefit will multiply once we use some of their newer services as well.

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#52

Post by edawerd » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:12 PM UTC

mbesto wrote: post #30

edawerd wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the payroll side, Gusto is actually a full-service payroll provider in all 50 states, meaning we do all your tax calculations, direct deposits, tax payments, and quarterly tax form filings. For workers' compensation insurance, we're also nationwide. For health insurance, we're currently available in California only, but we're already expanding to get nationwide.

For health insurance you're just providing an exchange, not a brokerage right? Or both? Also, any thoughts/plans to move into the PEO space?

We're providing a brokerage.

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#53

Post by gravity13 » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:16 PM UTC

JoelSutherland wrote: post #17

localcrisis wrote: post #12

First off, congratulations to the team. This is a big change and I'm sure a huge amount of work went into making this happen. I wonder what this says about the company's focus. They started out focused on payroll, with the BI press release saying they had 20k customers out of millions of small businesses. So obviously a lot more to be done and they are off to a good start. Which raises a few questions: Do they consid…

Zenefits does not do payroll, they "integrate" with other Payroll providers. Of the providers I've been most impressed with ZenPayroll so this is a very exciting announcement.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/williamalden/project-nutshot-zenefit...

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#54

Post by dopamean » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:18 PM UTC

wj wrote: post #48

One of the founders gave an amazing talk at Stanford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=3432 Worth listening to if you are interested in starting a company.

What was amazing about it?

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#55

Post by kgrin » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:20 PM UTC

I like ZP (now Gusto), I really do, but their support over time has been lacking (and it feels like it's degrading), and as a customer I'm growing increasingly concerned that they're growing too fast to keep up.

Granted - I'm a tiny account (3 employees). That said, it's frustrating that it takes weeks to get answers to questions (some simple, some less so). When I finally do get someone's attention, the resolution is generally a good one, but it just feels like they're flat-out understaffed on the support side - which is disconcerting when dealing with things like payroll, taxes, etc.

I certainly wish ZP all the best, and perhaps this expansion into new lines of business will help them hire more support staff... but a part of me feels like, "guys, get your house in order first before your start expanding."

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#56

Post by espinchi » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:26 PM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #23

localcrisis wrote: post #12

First off, congratulations to the team. This is a big change and I'm sure a huge amount of work went into making this happen. I wonder what this says about the company's focus. They started out focused on payroll, with the BI press release saying they had 20k customers out of millions of small businesses. So obviously a lot more to be done and they are off to a good start. Which raises a few questions: Do they consid…

Wasn't payroll solved decades ago? How have companies been paying their employees? We paid our employees through BofA and it was cheap and easy.

It was solved with a lot of tedious, manual work. I've been using ZenPayroll for the last few months, and I was surprised at how well done it is, how easy it is to use.

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#57

Post by espinchi » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:28 PM UTC

darksaints wrote: post #27

edawerd wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gusto co-founder here! We actually changed our name because ZenPayroll no longer adequately described what we bring to our customers. We're not just payroll and payments. Gusto is all about empowering companies to put people first.

I see the MBAs have gotten to you.

Well, not necessarily. Starting off with a more accurate keyword (payroll) and then broadening it up as you extend your service (benefits) makes sense to me, and I'm far from having an MBA.

Also, the prefix "zen" is being a little bit abused these days.

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#58

Post by mgkimsal » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:38 PM UTC

seiji wrote: post #39

coderdude wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by that? It's catchy and fun but not really informative or helpful by itself.

The vague mission statement of " empowering companies to put people first " that could mean literally anything from genocide to running a grocery store.

exactly. which people? employees? customers? someone else?

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#59

Post by onedev » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:46 PM UTC

jansen wrote: post #28

edawerd wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gusto co-founder here! We actually changed our name because ZenPayroll no longer adequately described what we bring to our customers. We're not just payroll and payments. Gusto is all about empowering companies to put people first.

Makes a ton of sense, good work guys. Congrats!

It actually makes no sense at all...

Re: ZenPayroll is now Gusto

#60

Post by wj » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 5:46 PM UTC

dopamean wrote: post #54

wj wrote: post #48

One of the founders gave an amazing talk at Stanford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=3432 Worth listening to if you are interested in starting a company.

What was amazing about it?

I think every person pulls something unique out of a talk depending on their experience and challenges they are currently facing. For me the biggest thing that has stuck with me was this quote:

"Solve a problem by creating a business rather than creating a business to solve a problem."

I really took that to mean that you need to be more passionate about the problem that passionate about the business. I even used that quote in my YC Fellowship application video.