Matt's suggested tools for starting a company

Building Astropad

When starting a new company, it's easy to get overwhelmed by options. So what's a new founder to do?

Thankfully there are more resources than ever for starting a company, but it's also easier than ever to be stuck in analysis paralysis. Based on his experience building Astropad, Matt shares what he thinks are the best options for setting up a company today.

Matt talks through some of the mistakes he's made setting up Astropad and how he'd avoid them today (Stripe Atlas!). He suggests his favorite tools for the (boring) business essentials like bookkeeping, payroll, banking, and accounting. All of his picks are about minimizing work, so you can get back to the fun parts of building a company.

And if you're setting up a remote team, hear why Google Apps, Slack, Zoom, and Notion should be your go-to.

Finally, he also shares his take on going solo vs. having a cofounder, whether remote-first and if he'd bootstrap again.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, YouTube, or anywhere you get your podcasts.

On this episode, you'll learn:

• How to incorporate your company (LLC or C Corp?)
• What services to use for bookkeeping, payroll, banking and accounting.
• Why Matt prefers SaaS tools whenever possible.
• The essential tools for organizing a remote team
• The basics needed for a good analytics stack
• How to handle payments (Hint: Shopify and Stripe)

Company Setup

• Stripe Atlas - Super easy company incorporation
• Quickbooks Online - The standard for bookkeeping
• Gusto - Low maintenance payroll

Organizing a remote team

• Google Workspace - Email, collaborative apps, single sign-on!
• Zoom - The (new) standard in video conferencing
• Slack - The company watercooler and chat system
• Notion - The place for long term knowledge

Analytics

• Google Analytics - Free web/app analytics
• Google Data Studio - Visualize and analyze your data!
• Google Sheets - A solid Excel replacement

Payments

• Stripe - The defacto payment provider
• Shopify - The best way to sell physical goods

Servers

• Wordpress on Flywheel - A solid Wordpress host
• Heroku - The easiest way to run a production app server

Other resources

• Matt Ronge on Twitter
• Our approach to bootstrapping, the snowball effect | Ep. 22