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Comment by HPMOR | Hacker News Reader

Clerky is great, Stripe is really buying all of the great product companies. I feel like with Clerky and Stripe Atlas they, Stripe now controls all of the early incorporation infrastructure now. This feels deeply problematic.

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I've used https://delawareinc.com/ to incorporate several companies over the years, and always had a good experience. Their website looks pretty old-school but it works well and their service is very prompt.

So I wouldn't Stripe controls all of the early incorporation infrastructure – just the flashy stuff (which I'm sure is great too).

(disclaimer: former Stripe employee)

Yeah, it's not even close. Stripe Atlas is a very small part of the market. It doesn't mean the product isn't good but every year, over a million new businesses that are formed and of those that are incorporated, I'd guess that a very small fragment are incorporated through Stripe Atlas.

Most businesses in the state I live in, as well as the states around me (what someone in SF or NY would call flyover) are handled by a registered agent (trivial, not even in a fee to become an agent in most states, just a valid local address) or the owner.

tbh I still don't understand why anyone bothers paying anyone or anything to do the paperwork, it's not like Federal taxes

Why would you pay someone to do Federal Taxes? Are they difficult to do in the US?

Yeah, few things are as complex for a business in any industry that has ever gotten caught in the nation's political sights. For example, if you provide some sort of VoIP service, there's levels of nested rules that fill books, in part due to the breakup of the Bell System later coming into full contact with the internet. Plenty of carve outs, loops, and all manner of grandfathered elements for everyone.

The only thing more complicated than Federal taxes is environmental regulation. Everything else is simpler.

> controls all of the early incorporation infrastructure

You don't need to rely on Stripe to do anything. There are other payment gateways, and you can file things yourself (or hire someone).

Do they make things very easy and accessible for a smaller fee than doing it yourself, yes.

In fact Atlas and their push to be a C-Corp is a bad play for us small timers

...unless you're based in a jurisdiction like the UK, where an LLC may not get the same tax treatment as a C-corp (Ltd companies being the norm here).

A C corporation can still make a lot of sense for a small business depending on the nature of the business and the interests and needs of the owners.

C corps can offer a lot of advantages in terms of shareholder and employee benefits, particularly around healthcare, and QSBS is a huge benefit for qualified businesses and owners who might one day sell the business.

What are some good alternatives to Stripe for people to pay for your stuff?

Unsure how much I trust my searches for this kind of stuff on the web lately

Adyen is similar to Stripe, and it's an European company. But they select their customers, so you need to contact them, you can't sign-up "diy".

> Stripe now controls all of the early incorporation infrastructure now. This feels deeply problematic.

Lol, no.

Firstbase, Doola, Capbase. Not to mention all the old school cos that will help you incorporate in their state.

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