

Startup pack gives away $10k worth of tools to new businesses - jfoucher
http://startuppack.org

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lancefisher
This is kind of like Microsoft's BizSpark, but instead of MS software you get
services from other cool startups. This is a great idea. I just signed up so
we'll see.

Asking for write privileges to my twitter account gave me pause though. Just
let me tweet on my own.

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jfoucher
Actually this is needed so that the applicant can be made a @startuppack
follower programatically, to be able to send a DM when (if) you're selected

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JoshTriplett
That seems fairly disturbing; couldn't you just say "you must follow
@startuppack to be eligible"? Then you wouldn't need ongoing write permission
to the user's Twitter account.

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tehwebguy
Disturbing is an exaggeration, but it would certainly be just as easy to get
read only rights (just to confirm it's you) and also check to see if they're
following.

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rurounijones
I have rejected a large number of apps because they want write access to my
twitter account for no discernible reason.

The reason posted above makes sense but it would never have occurred to me so
I would have rejected this out of hand.

Companies should say why they need write access with clear reasoning if they
want me to use them.

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h4pless
This year of incorporation requirement seems to miss the point... I
incorporated in 2010 (missed the cutoff date to qualify by 17 days) but the
registration was mostly to hold the name way before I had started to develop
the product. Now I'm getting to the point where I could use the help but
because I registered the name too long ago I can't partake? Seems like the
qualification should have more to do with how long the company has actually
been active or if it has even launched a product than when it was
incorporated... not to mention one could just spend the $50 (fee for Colorado)
to form another corporation to take advantage but that sounds like a major
pain in the butt and generally shady behavior.

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goatforce5
Date of incorporation is an easy to measure, non-fuzzy data point.

How do you determine the date of becoming active?

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h4pless
Well considering they're doing that verification via image/document files, why
not allow applicants to also submit tax returns? Seems like that would quickly
show whether or not a business has been active.

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Mailjet
You should ping @startuppack on Twitter and make the suggestion.

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ryanwaggoner
This seems really cool but also completely sketchy. Why is there no info about
the organization or who is behind it?

Could someone from one of the companies listed on the site confirm that this
is something you're involved in?

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magic5227
Aaron from Mixpanel here. Spoke with the founder, I think its just a very new
idea and doesn't have any history yet.

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mvaxelaire
Sorry if it looks sketchy, we did our best to make it smooth and clean. We
will add further info on the people behind the initiative and our mission:
help entrepreneurs.

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jrockway
If I were phishing for information, this is exactly how I'd do it.

~~~
endtwist
What are you giving them that isn't likely already public information?

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casca
A company registered in England and Wales can be strongly verified online via
Companies House WeBCHeck (<http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk>). This services
is probably targeted at US companies but supporting the next-largest place for
tech startups (</speculation>) could be a nice touch if this grows.

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accountoftheday
You are strongly verifying that someone paid the ~$25 incorporation fee,
nothing else. The identity of directors does not even get verified during the
process. It does not mean much without a trading history.

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casca
Completely agreed, however a copy of the certificate is what they're asking
for.

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watson
It's a shame they require us to be incorporated. We're holding off so far
because it doesn't make sense until we either get investment or our first real
employee. But at that time we will most likely be able to aford these tools.
It doesn't make sense to me why they require the incorporation when it's the
unincorporated companies that need this package the most :(

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philip1209
I think that the "incorporation" requirement is a bit unclear - technically,
an LLC is not a corporation even though most small businesses that would
qualify are LLCs.

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nickler
Smart. Target your audience, and reduce the CaC by defraying the high value
opt in cost to partners. Signed up, as we're in the window, and it couldn't
come at a better time for us. Just about to launch out of alpha so we'll be
getting our money's worth.

Onboarding b2b customers isn't easy, or cheap, so this is crafty move, well
played.

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belorn
There is a other website that give away $100k worth of tools to new
businesses. Its called Debian.

O wait, maybe that's $1000k worth of tools. Or is it $10000k?

(Maybe they should describe what the tools does and not do a "less-than-
useful" money comparison)

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codeonfire
Then they can't write it off as a marketing expense.

It is an extremely tacky move to assign a value to something you're giving
away for free.

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buro9
> It is an extremely tacky move to assign a value to something you're giving
> away for free.

Actually in the UK it's an encouraged thing by HMRC.

HMRC would rather see you invoice a company for £5k and then to write it off
as a gift, than to not see records at all.

In the case of giving to charities via this method, the government will go so
far as to give you a benefit on your declared level of corporate tax as a
direct result of giving something to a charity and invoicing in this way.

You might internally consider that to be a marketing activity, or a
social/community/sustainability activity, but the government cares not... they
strongly want to see benefits and gifts recorded and will (in some cases such
as charities, non-profits, etc) will reward you by taking less tax.

That's UK specific of course, but point is: the UK government and tax office
don't view it as tacky. And it's a good business incentive to offer such
benefits to charities and other specified types of organisation.

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gacoul
Nice idea. couple of questions:

\- Is there any "catch"? Like are going to make money off of us by selling
email adresses?

\- What if I already have a free plan on one of those services? Can I upgrade
it?

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magic5227
No catch. These businesses are hoping you enjoy the service and continue as a
paying customer x years later.

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magic5227
I should add, or enjoy the service free and refer others to us, some of whom
may join as paying users later.

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StavrosK
So, can I get one even though I incorporated 2.5 years ago? It's just lead
gen...

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magic5227
Not our program, the creator decided that. We personally wouldn't care, you
could write to ask.

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josscrowcroft
Will there be any exceptions for companies that are not (yet) incorporated?
E.g. a company that has many big name clients/users, great product, solid
community and following, etc.?

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blaines
I've been thinking a lot about incorporating just to have a place for my
projects. This could be yet another reason to do so.

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true_religion
I'm genuinely curious... why do so many people seem to think this is a
phishing scam?

If your business is registered by a US state, that information is on the
public record. It includes your name, business address, and date of
registration.

Your company URL, and company email as well aren't supposed to be private
info. I'd expect you'd have them prominently placed on your website. I know I
do.

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batgaijin
There's a lot of reasons people incorporate in delaware...

[http://www.quora.com/Can-members-of-a-Delaware-LLC-be-
anonym...](http://www.quora.com/Can-members-of-a-Delaware-LLC-be-anonymous)

~~~
eli
Err, ok. Most of the reasons hav to do with a predictable and efficient legal
and tax system. I don't think many startups have a need to keep their founders
names secret.

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suyash
All of the deals seem good in the short term but they are FREE for a reason,
to get you hooked! I am not going to signup just because it sounds good right
now. Please make sure you want to stick with that service for a long time
before you jump in!

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SoftwareMaven
I've held off incorporating because...well, I just haven't gotten around to
it. I guess I should get around to it, since I'm hoping to release in a couple
weeks anyway.

Sad that I'll miss out on the chance to participate as a result, though.

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pfisch
Signed up. Hope this isn't a phishing scam. It seems real, but I guess we will
see.

~~~
mvaxelaire
No worries, it's real. Will let you know about your application as soon as we
can.

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addandsubtract
I'm only interested in the Fotolia credits, but would rather leave someone
else to make use of the others offers. If you signed up and want to share the
Fotolia credits, let me know.

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waldr
Awesome work Mat - excited to see what you work on next!

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KaoruAoiShiho
We were incorporated in 2010, but can we still take part? We're a few months
older than 2 years.

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everestx
Oh boy! This is just a plain old, ugly sales pitch.

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mvaxelaire
It's just a win/win situation. One one side, business partners are happy to
show their support to young startups and spread the news about their service
by offering their software for free (for a limited period). On the other side,
startups can access great tools for free. No sales pitch. No catch.

