
Cambridge YC Alums: How'd you spend your funding? - zaidf

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zaidf
I'm curious if any past Cambridge alum would volunteer how roughly the
finances worked out during the three months.

I realize it must vary by startup to startup but I'm hoping to get some
general sense of the standard expenses most all startups would have.

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Sam_Odio
Your largest monthly expense will be rent and food.

I did a startup in another college town, and this is how it worked out:

\- Rent - $1,000 / mo

\- Food(3 guys) - $400 / mo

\- Electricty (12 PCs/servers) - $150 / month

\- Business internet access (hosted our own servers) - $150 / mo

Another big expense will be the incorporation costs, which can run as much as
$500 (varies per state).

In the end, it ended up being $1,800 / person for the entire summer. We
already had all the equipment, so none of that was included in the expenses.

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cwilbur
$500 for incorporation is a very low figure for some states. If I remember
right, the cost of incorporation as an LLC in Massachusetts (which is what I
was researching at the time, because that's where I am) runs about $1000
between what you end up owing the state and what you end up owing the lawyer;
incorporating as an LLC in any other state means you need to register as a
foreign corporation with the state if you intend to do business in that state
(in MA: lease property as a corporation, pay salaries as a corporation, own
property as a corporation), which in Massachusetts runs about $1000 between
what you end up owing the state and what you end up owing the lawyer.

Other states may be more lenient on when you need to register as a foreign
corporation or cost less to incorporate or register as a foreign corporation.
Also, for some startup models, it can make sense to incorporate in Delaware
when you start development and then worry about the whole foreign-corporation
thing when it's time to start hiring employees rather than adding partners.

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jaed
Yeah we filed our own LLC formation for $90 in Delaware + ~$250 for our
Registered Agent.

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jey
Are 3 month leases easy to get in the Cambridge area? Is the rent higher for
such a short lease?

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rms
There are lots of sublets available because of all the college students going
home for the summer. Check Craigslist.

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jey
Oh, right. Good thinking.

