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Central — Payroll, benefits & government bullsh*t for startups
Unlike traditional HR platforms, Central automates everything you need to operate a compliant US startup, like state registrations, worker's compensation and other filings – saving weeks of work, headaches and fines. Join 100+ companies that run on Central.
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@joshwymer @pranavkash @nilay_modi Well done on the launch! Wishing you continued success and growth. How did you come up with the idea?
@kjosephabraham Thank you! This was born out of our own pain and we’re building the product we wish we had.
@joshwymer @pranavkash @nilay_modi Every now and then, a revolutionary new product comes along that changes everything. Central is one of those products.
.. and the scary thing is, it is getting better all the time!
@joshwymer @pranavkash @nilay_modi Big congratulations on the launch of Central! This is an exciting step forward, and it's great to see all the hard work come to fruition. Best of luck as you continue to grow!
That's a wild story you shared @nilay_modi and it sucks you had to find out that the hard way. Glad you are helping the startup world solving this annoying problem. I honestly never seen a solution that's this comprehensive at handling all the noise so the founders can focus on building the right product for the right people.
I'm curious on your thoughts on how do you deal with the problem where your customers need more features in one of these areas, for example payroll. Will you keep your focus just on early day startups?
Congrats on the launch though Nilay and team!
@tonyhanded - thanks Tony! While we do focus on smaller companies, our hope is to continue to scale with them at least to 100 employees.
This product is truly incredible. Every startup founder should sign up for this - it's the perfect blend of why AI is so damn exciting!
After racking up fines with Rippling we switched to Central for our US payroll. It's a no brainer for any founder who wants to think more about finding product market fit and less dealing with state taxes and registrations.
Congrats on the launch Nilay, no one likes to deal with government filing and AI can definitely free us from such sufferings. Will try it out when dealing with government paperwork next time. Look forward to future updates!
Congrats guys!
The only thing that would make this better is a kick @$$ support system, amirite?
But seriously, great job! You guys have come a long way, beautifully simple. Plans on handling things like taxes or R&D analysis?
WOW, this is such an amazing product. One thing I'd like to know is what is your expansion plan, geographically.
We started off using Rippling but it was not at all simple setup and maintain. Central took over from them several weeks ago and I haven't had to think about HR or payroll stuff since then.
In terms of usability = ADP < Gusto < Rippling < Central
You guys are onto something. If I start another company, this is the platform I will be using. Also, your design team absolutely crushed it.
If you are startup founder - Just Use Central. Don't midcurve.
And then, with the extra time that you got back, focus on changing the world.
This product looks great! I'm curious, how far does this platform scale with the startup? Do you envision this scale past the "startup" phase into a true enterprise supporting product?
@logan_brown6 We're deeply focused on founders/owners and supporting startups/smbs at the moment. No plans for enterprise. Our goal is to get you to a 100 people by giving you back your time :)
Literally. This is so sick. Would have saved my last startup so much time and money. Will definitely be giving this a try.
Congrats on the launch! The ability to pull anything I need directly from Slack is a complete game-changer.
@chrisbakke Thanks and yup, Slack is an awesome way to get to stuff quickly!
User of Central here. Used to be a Gusto user. Big upgrade, highly recommend for founders who got overwhelmed by random paperwork, taxes, filings that you didn't know what to do with.
@nilay_modi congrats on your launch!!
I would like to understand more on your statement “for busy founders rather than HR professions”.
We transitioned our W2s from another payroll provider, and the only thing we regret is why didn't we do it earlier.
Congrats on the launch! Central has been amazing for us - would recommend it to any founder who just wants to focus on building & selling.
Omg, this. I've used Gusto, TriNet, checked out ADP, and BambooHR in the past to manage 0-50 employees. Not huge by any means, but such a nightmare. Especially attracting, hiring, and retaining West Coast based employees was a constant logistical burden.
Some platforms would offer a decent user experience, without offering benefits, and others vice versa. Then piecing together all the company info, insurance stuff, and trying to find a separate platform to manage another 40 global employees took up more hours than it should.
I love the Slack demo, especially trying to get the EIN quickly :D which seems silly, until you've had to bring it up 1000 times.
A few quick questions from previous pain:
- when you say Government mail monitoring, do you redirect and handle all the federal and state government mail? I remember getting a mail per week from Washington state for a single employee we had based there, even with being fully onboarding with other tools, it was ridiculous.
- for the benefits, do you bulk negotiate all the PPO rates with the providers or is this a BYO model?
- for global contractor management, do you handle the local paperwork and taxation requirements there? And what about the exchange rates?
To be honest, this got me more excited then it should have. Congratulations on the launch and hitting a major startup pain point!
@baba_nadimpalli Thanks for the questions!
- when you say Government mail monitoring, do you redirect and handle all the federal and state government mail? I remember getting a mail per week from Washington state for a single employee we had based there, even with being fully onboarding with other tools, it was ridiculous.
That's exactly right. We then take any actions needed on your behalf and alert you if it's something that needs your attention
- for the benefits, do you bulk negotiate all the PPO rates with the providers or is this a BYO model?
@pranavkash is a licensed insurance broker so he's able to broker small-group plans.
- for global contractor management, do you handle the local paperwork and taxation requirements there? And what about the exchange rates?
This depends on the country, happy to discuss your specific situation.
Central (YC S24)