[stevievee]

Too much to address so I generalized.

I don't have time to go into details but the very big problems you could encounter mainly revolve around misses on compliance because you took a very lax approach to Finance ie. accounting standards, tax rules, payroll records, stock options and more. Just as a very simple example - I've seen a $1 million MRR company get eviscerated for not paying attention to something as basic as sales tax rules.

[phphphphp]

Most finance rules are quite reasonable and problems can be fixed retroactively. A serious company should absolutely approach their financial controls with the rigor it deserves but the cost implication of making mistakes early on is overblown.

If a company is turning over tens of millions per year and has missed something as basic as taxes then yes, absolutely, pain is inevitable, but it’s both solvable (after all, they’re doing tens of millions in revenue!) and very different from the type of problem a startup might encounter if they are cavalier with their finances early on.

The OPs post is of great benefit because often the key to avoiding problems is going from oblivious to aware… and so while a post like the OPs may not be exhaustive, it does put people on the right path, as it is heavy on the recommendations of getting a professional involved — and explains how to do that in a very accessible way.

How many startups have died because they didn’t know they had to charge sales tax? How many startups have died because they spent hundreds of hours obsessing over operational minutiae before they earned their first dollar?

(I don’t know the OP, but coincidentally I have worked with one of the companies he recommends, and I was very impressed — it’s clear to me this isn’t just churned out content marketing that uses the first Google result for “accountant”)

[mrkurt]

This would be more interesting if you did have time to go into details. I'd love to hear about the company getting eviscerated for messing up sales tax.

[danielmarkbruce]

If someone doesn't pay taxes, they are in trouble. It doesn't it need to be in this write up. Taxes are always there, always complicated and always need to be calculated and paid.

It's a write up on finance basics, not a treatise on all issues at the intersection of finance/legal/compliance.

[satvikpendem]

If you have time to write more about this, or even as a blog post to submit to HN, I'd be very interested to learn more.