Why StartupStead exists

Building a business means making a long run of decisions you have never made before. Which kind of company should you form, and in which state? Do you need an EIN on day one? Which bank, which accounting software, which payroll provider? When does a freelancer become an employee in the eyes of the IRS? How long will the money last?

Each of those questions has an answer. The trouble is finding one that is specific enough to act on, written by someone who isn't quietly selling you the most expensive option, and arranged in the order you will actually need it.

StartupStead is an attempt at that.

Who it is for

The site is written for founders and small business owners in the United States, first-time ones above all. Some are forming a startup they hope to raise money for. Many more are opening a consulting practice, an agency, a store or a local business, and need the same paperwork done without paying for advice they don't need.

It is also written for founders outside the US who form or hire through a US company, because the same questions land on their desk with a few extra complications. Where their path differs, the articles say so.

One journey, six stages

Every business goes through the same stages. You start and incorporate, build a brand and a website, market and sell, manage the money, hire a team, and protect what you have built. The site is organized the same way, so you can start with setting up the company or go straight to where you are. The details differ by industry, so industry pages collect what applies to a SaaS startup, an agency, a local shop or an exporter.

The stages are a map, not a course. Nobody finishes "Start & Incorporate" before they think about customers. Most founders are working on three stages at once, and the site is built so that any article stands on its own and links to the next thing you are likely to need.

Specific over general

Every guide should end with something you can do. That means real prices, real trade-offs, and a clear recommendation, not a list of "it depends" with no follow-up. Where the answer really does depend on your situation, the article says on what, and how to tell which side you are on.

A few habits follow from that.

• Numbers are worked through. When an article says an S corp election can save money, it shows the calculation at a few profit levels, not just the claim.
• Recommendations are named. If one product is the better choice for most readers, the article says which one and why.
• The free option comes first when it is enough. You can get an EIN from the IRS for free in a few minutes, and you can file your LLC's paperwork on your state's own website. Articles say so, even when a paid service would earn the site a commission.

Sourced, and dated

Prices and features come from each company's own pricing and product pages first. Rules come from the source that sets them: the IRS, FinCEN, the Small Business Administration, or the state's own filing office. Every article lists its sources at the end, with the date each one was checked.

That date matters. Software prices change all the time, and tax thresholds and filing rules change most years. A comparison without dates is one you can't trust, so every figure here carries one. When something changes, the article is updated and its "Updated" date moves.

Reviewed by people who are qualified to

The author is an engineer and a founder, not a CPA or an attorney. Articles on formation, taxes, payroll, insurance and contracts are therefore reviewed by a qualified US professional, such as a certified public accountant, an enrolled agent or an attorney, who is named on the article. Where no reviewer is named, the article sticks to what the author has done first-hand.

None of it is legal or tax advice for your situation. Articles that touch those subjects say so at the top and point out when it is worth paying a professional, which is more often than most formation services would like you to believe.

Tested where we can, and honest where we haven't

A comparison is only as good as the hands-on time behind it. Where possible, products are signed up for and used, and the article shows what that looked like: the checkout, the onboarding, the real cost after the add-ons.

Where a product hasn't been used first-hand, the article says so at the top, by name, and relies on the sources listed at the end. That line is easy to skip, and plenty of review sites skip it. Here it is a rule.

How an article gets made

Every article goes through the same steps before it is published.

1. One question per page. Each article is written to answer one question well, such as "how do I get an EIN" or "is Mercury or Relay better for a new LLC." Two articles never chase the same question, so you don't land on three thin pages that each half-answer it.
2. Research from the source. Prices from the vendor's own pricing page. Rules from the agency that sets them. Each one goes on the article's source list with the date it was checked.
3. First-hand material. Screenshots of the sign-up, the real cost after add-ons, the time it actually took. Where that isn't possible, the article says so.
4. Review. Money, legal and tax articles go to a qualified US professional, who is named on the page.
5. Re-checking. Prices and terms older than three months are checked again, and articles that stop being useful are improved, merged into a stronger one, or taken down.

AI tools help with research and first drafts. Nothing is published straight from one. Every article is rewritten, checked against its sources and approved by a person first.

What StartupStead won't do

A few things are ruled out, because they are what make so many business sites hard to trust.

• No pay-to-play rankings. Companies can't pay to be included, can't review an article before it is published, and can't ask for changes to one.
• No "best of" list made only of paying partners. If the best option pays nothing, it is still on the list, and often at the top.
• No pages made from a template. You won't find "best CRM for plumbers" and "best CRM for dentists" with the same text and a different word swapped in.

Tools that do the math

Some questions are arithmetic. How many months of cash do you have left? What will hiring three people abroad cost each month? The free tools answer those in your browser and keep nothing you type. More are planned, starting with an LLC cost calculator by state and an S corp savings calculator.

Who writes it

StartupStead is written by Suraj Upadhyay. Before this site, Suraj was the founding engineer and CTO of a startup that built accounting and finance software for small businesses, which meant learning how invoices, ledgers, taxes and reconciliation work from the inside. Suraj also runs Esence, a small engineering company, and set it up from scratch.

Those two jobs are where most of the questions on this site come from. They are the questions that came up while building software for small businesses and while running one.

How it is paid for

StartupStead is free to read. Some links earn a commission when you buy, and that pays for the research. It never influences a recommendation. A product that pays nothing is recommended over one that pays well whenever it is the better choice, and every comparison includes the options a founder would realistically consider, whether or not they pay.

Articles that contain a paid link say so before the first one. The disclosure page lists every product the site currently earns from, and the editorial policy explains the rest: how products are chosen, how prices are checked and how mistakes are corrected.

What comes first

The first articles cover hiring abroad, because that is where the free tools started. Next comes the most common job of all: starting a business in the US, from choosing between an LLC and a corporation to getting an EIN and filing your first annual report. After that, the money side (banking, bookkeeping and taxes), then hiring, then sales and the tools a small team runs on.

New articles go up a few at a time, each one researched, checked and reviewed before it is published. That is slower than the content farms, on purpose.

Get in touch

If you spot a mistake, an out-of-date price or a question an article left unanswered, tell us. Every message is read, and the best questions become articles. For questions other founders can answer, the community is on r/startupguides.

The best place to begin is the stage you are in today. If that is the very start, read employer of record or contractor if you are hiring, or browse Start & Incorporate if you are setting up.