Starting a startup is an exhilarating journey, but it can also be financially challenging, especially for first-time founders. This comprehensive guide will help you navigate the world of startup deals and discounts, allowing you to save money and extend your runway. We'll cover various categories, from finance and legal to product and marketing, providing you with valuable resources to kickstart your business.

Finance and Legal Deals

Incorporation

As a startup founder, one of your first challenges is incorporating your business. These deals can save you significant money on legal fees and streamline the process:

  • Stripe Atlas: $250 instead of $500 for business formation through Y Combinator Startup School. This service simplifies the incorporation process, saving you time and legal headaches.
  • Doola: $225 instead of $500 for the "Start Your Business" package (55% off) via Y Combinator Startup School. Doola specializes in helping international founders set up US-based businesses, addressing the unique challenges faced by non-US entrepreneurs.
  • Clerky: $699 instead of $4,781 for the Company Lifetime Package through Y Combinator Startup School. This comprehensive package covers various legal needs throughout your startup's lifecycle, reducing long-term legal costs.

Cap Table Management

Managing your cap table is crucial for tracking ownership and preparing for future funding rounds. Carta offers free cap table management for startups with up to 25 security holders and up to $1M raised through its Carta Launch program. This tool helps you avoid costly mistakes in equity management and simplifies investor communications.

Insurance and Compliance

Protecting your startup and ensuring compliance is essential but can be expensive. These deals help mitigate those costs:

  • Embroker: 20% off business insurance. Embroker specializes in startup insurance, offering tailored coverage to protect against the unique risks faced by new businesses.
  • Vanta: 25% off subscription for Ramp customers, or $1,000 off using a coupon code. Vanta automates security compliance, helping you meet SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA requirements more easily, which is crucial for building trust with enterprise clients.

Accounting

Proper financial management is critical for startups. These deals can help you set up professional accounting systems:

  • Quickbooks: 30% off first year for Brex customers. QuickBooks is widely used and integrates with many other financial tools, streamlining your accounting processes.
  • Xero: 25% off Business plan for Ramp or Carta customers. Xero is known for its user-friendly interface and is particularly good for startups with international operations.
  • Pilot: 20% off for the first six months through AWS Activate or Stripe Corporate cards. Pilot provides bookkeeping, tax, and CFO services, offering expertise that many early-stage startups lack in-house.

People and Ops Deals

HR and Payroll

Managing people operations can be complex and time-consuming. These tools can help:

  • Rippling: 6 months free for Stripe Corporate Card or Carta customers; 10% off all products for Ramp customers. Rippling integrates HR, IT, and Finance systems, reducing administrative overhead.
  • Deel: 50% off contractors and 20% off full-time employees for 12 months (Ramp customers). Deel simplifies hiring and paying international employees and contractors, which is invaluable for remote-first startups.
  • Gusto: 50% off the first year for Brex customers or 3 months free for Stripe Corporate Card customers. Gusto offers comprehensive payroll, benefits, and HR tools tailored for small businesses and startups.

Recruitment

Finding the right talent is crucial for startup success. These platforms can help you access quality candidates:

  • Revelo: 20% off the first three months. Revelo specializes in helping companies hire vetted remote developers from Latin America, expanding your talent pool.
  • Lemon: 15% off the first month. Lemon matches companies with pre-vetted engineers, saving you time in the screening process.
  • Gun.io: $250 off your first dev hire. Gun.io focuses on placing senior software developers, helping you find experienced talent quickly.

Product Deals

Cloud/Hosting

Cloud infrastructure is often one of the largest expenses for tech startups. These credits can significantly extend your runway:

For Funded Startups:

  • Google Cloud Startup program: Up to $100K in credits. Apply here to reduce your infrastructure costs and access Google's suite of cloud services.
  • AWS Activate: Up to $100K in credits. AWS Activate provides not just credits but also technical support and training, helping you optimize your cloud usage.

For Bootstrapped Startups / Side Projects:

  • AWS: Various programs offering $1K to $25K in credits. These smaller credit amounts can still make a big difference for lean startups and side projects.
  • Google Cloud: $2,000 in credits. Even this smaller amount can help you get started and test your infrastructure needs.

Analytics

Understanding user behavior is crucial for product development and growth. These tools offer substantial credits:

  • Mixpanel: $50,000 in credit for 1 year. Mixpanel helps you track user interactions and make data-driven decisions.
  • Amplitude: $40,000 in credit for one year. Amplitude offers powerful product analytics to help you understand user behavior and optimize your product.

Productivity

Efficient collaboration and project management are essential for startup teams. These tools can help streamline your workflows:

  • Notion: $1,000 of credit for startups. Notion is an all-in-one workspace for notes, documents, and project management.
  • Coda: $1,000 credit. Coda combines documents, spreadsheets, and applications into a single platform.
  • Airtable: $2,000 in credit through AWS Activate or Carta's Startup Stack. Airtable is a flexible database tool that can be customized for various use cases.

Sales and Marketing Deals

Ad Credits

Marketing is essential for growth, but can be expensive. These ad credits can help you test and optimize your campaigns:

  • Snapchat: $3,000 credit for Ramp customers. Great for reaching younger demographics.
  • LinkedIn: $1,000 credit through Microsoft for Startups program. Ideal for B2B startups looking to reach professional audiences.
  • TikTok: $100-$500 credit by creating a Shopify account. Excellent for consumer-focused startups targeting Gen Z and millennials.

CRM

Managing customer relationships is crucial for growth. These CRM deals can help you organize and optimize your sales processes:

  • Salesforce: 50% off first year through their Startups Program. Salesforce is the industry leader, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for customer management.
  • Hubspot: 90% off the first year through their startup program. HubSpot offers an all-in-one marketing, sales, and service platform.
  • Pipedrive: 50% off the first year through AWS Activate. Pipedrive is known for its intuitive interface and is particularly good for small sales teams.

By leveraging these deals and discounts, startup founders can significantly reduce their operational costs, allowing them to allocate more resources to product development and growth. Remember to carefully review the terms of each offer and choose the solutions that best fit your startup's specific needs and stage of growth.