ncash

I often read threads here on HN where people compare the various online payment services, and I never seem to hear anything about Amazon's Flexible Payments Service (FPS). They claim to be 'the first payments service designed from the ground up for developers', but I figured if that is the case people around here might recommend it more often.

Anyone have experience with it or stories to share?

The Amazon FPS web site: http://aws.amazon.com/fps/

We are raising capital ($150k-250k) and have had some offers from various contacts. However, I know that many of them are not accredited investors. Should we completely drop these possible funds? Or is there a certain way to deal with unaccredited investors?

We've never raised money before, so we have no idea what pitfalls there are with unaccredited investors who are investing relatively small amounts ($10k-$25k).

Thanks in advance for all tips, suggestions, and investment tales.

Hello everyone!

We have our first meeting with an angel investor tomorrow, so I figured I would see what advice the HN community would offer on talking/negotiating/working with angels.

We are from the Midwest, so the tech startup environment is quite different. I'd be especially interested in hearing from any other Midwest tech startups that got angel funding.

Thanks in advance!

I'm happy to say that my startup is hiring its first few employees. Like most startups, we don't have a lot of cash, so we are planning to go with a low salary + stock/ownership deal.

As a first time entrepreneur, and young person in general, I have no experience with stock options or creating an options pool. I have no idea what size they should be, what terms (vesting, etc?) we should put in place, and things of that nature. I do receive fantastic business counsel, and I know where they stand on the issue. However, I live in the Midwest and people here tend to be pretty conventional and conservative. Thus, I'm here to gather feedback and conventional wisdom of how this is handled elsewhere. I'd also be interested to hear about other things you have offered/received as an entrepreneur/early employee, and any pitfalls you'd recommend we look out for.

A little more info: My company was formed as an LLC. I am the single member with 100% ownership. Like any founder I don't want to give away the farm, but I'm more interested in getting this done right than the amount of equity I retain. Right now we are looking to hire two people, though more will follow. The jobs we are hiring for are sys admin and operations related, but the people we plan to hire are avid hackers and will work on whatever needs to be done.

Note: I am aware that each business is different and I'll need to consult a lawyer. I'm looking for more specific advice than that :)