Building Your first startup Business Stack: A Playbook for Maximizing Benefits Programs from the beginning
TL;DR
How to setup and run your business stack with little to no cost (for the first few months)
Many products have 'perks/benefits' that are essentially referral partners that provide discounts or credits if you signup through their link. You chain together these referrals to building your business stack at little to no cost.
Starting a company involves so much more than just building a product and it can also be overwhelming. From incorporating to setting up email, domain, taxes, accounting, product management, banking, and beyond, the to-do list seems endless. Enter the 'business stack' – your arsenal of tools and services to run your startup smoothly.
Much like a 'tech stack' is essential for building and deploying a product, a 'business stack' is vital for running your startup efficiently. But fear not, fellow entrepreneur, for there's a savvy way to build your first business stack without breaking the bank – through Benefits Programs.
Benefits Programs are referral programs that offer discounts or credits to users who sign up with a referral partner. By leveraging Benefits Programs effectively, you can kickstart your business with minimal cost for a significant period. Here's how it works:
Let's say you sign up for Program A. Program A has a referral partnership with Company B, which offers enticing benefits such as '6 months free' or credits upon signup. But here's the kicker – Company B also has a partnership with Company C, extending similar '6 months free' benefits to its users. Now, by simply signing up for Company B through program A's referral link, you've unlocked not only Product A but also the additional perks from Companies B and C. Voila! You're now running your startup with Product A, B, and C – all for free or at a significant discount.
As a real life example.
Microsoft for Startups (screenshot below), has Mercury Banking as a referral partners with a $750 cash benefit.
Mercury Banking again has 'perks' for their customers (screenshot below) as well. eg. Gusto 6 month free. Gusto also has 'benefits' and the chain keeps going. The benefit/perk chain continues.
So, what does our business stack look like? Here's a snapshot of ours business stack and which 'partner' lead to each.
We signup for Microsoft for Startups (free) which opened up a whole list of other products. I can't recommended them highly enough.
So, using perks/benefits programs are a great way to setup your business stack in a cost efficient way in the beginning of your journey.
Here are few thing you should consider.
- Most of the program's have a time limit, and the clock starts when you signup. So don't signup just because you can. Signup when you actually need it.
- Benefits for a product differ by the referral partner. For example, Product A might provide a 3 month free benefit for Product B, while product C provide a 6 month free benefit for product B. So, do a bit of shopping.
- Also, the benefits are for new users. So if you see a 12 months free benefits for a product you're already using? You're out of luck.
Here are a few (referral) links along with the benefit to some of the products we use.
Notion : 6 months free (Plus plan) - select Jigo AI in the partner list, include our partner key : STARTUP4110P67116
Mercury Bank (Banking for startups) : $250 cash (if $10K deposited within 90 days)
Finta (acounting for startups) : $250 Cash (signup and pay for any plan) - mention Jigo AI after signup