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We eliminate founder bullshit: payroll, benefits, govt. filings etc.
Title: Central: Eliminating business bullshit: payroll, benefits, govt. filings, etc | Y Combinator

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### Eliminating business bullshit: payroll, benefits, govt. filings, etc

\- \[Our fever dream Bookface launch\]( - \[$10K+ high value YC deal + reviews\](

### Jobs at Central

Washington, DC, US / San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (US)

$200K - $250K

0.25% - 1.00%

6+ years



Central

Founded:2023

Team Size:13

Location:San Francisco

### Active Founders

### Josh Wymer, Founder

Founder / CEO @ Central, ex-Mixpanel, ex-Meta



### Pranav Kashyap, Founder

Pranav is the COO at Central, helping other companies automate back-office work. He previously built payment and tax products for millions of users at Stripe, rebuilt Mixpanel's self-serve and messaging products and spent a number of years working with technology companies at McKinsey and Sequoia Capital. He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from IIT Bombay and an MBA from Wharton.



### Nilay Modi, Founder

Founder at Central



### Company Launches

[### Central: Payroll + benefits for startups. Save weeks of work & fines.](

**📝 TL;DR:**
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*   [Central]( is the first payroll & benefits platform for startups that automates all the painful compliance work – saving you weeks of work and fines.
*   **Start for free -** [**
    *   _10 mins to setup + we’ll do all the migration work._

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🤫 **CONFESSION:** **I’ve paid over $20,000 in government fines.**
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At my last YC W20 company, Clayboard, all I wanted to do was design and build. Instead, I was drowning in back-office work. Even with the current recommended platforms, payroll, benefits, compliance was a never-ending pain in the…

Why do founders still need to understand all this?

Why do we still have to register in multiple states to run payroll, set up worker’s compensation, pay random payroll related taxes, deal with scary government mail, update addresses across state filings, troubleshoot with insurance companies?

A tragedy…



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**👋 HELLO CENTRAL: Save weeks of work & avoid fines.**
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Central is the first payroll, benefits & ops platform designed for busy founders, not HR/finance professionals.

Unlike other platforms, Central handles each compliance task from start to finish. You don’t need to learn or do anything. You just keep building because that’s what truly matters.

Think of Central as abstracting away the government and also declarative i.e. you set your desired end state, and Central makes it happen.



So, here’s everything you get:

**Payroll & compliance**

1.  **Hire and pay anyone globally:** Central supports founders & employees in all 50 U.S. states and contractors in 200+ countries. We’ll handle reimbursements, offer letters, NDAs, I-9 verification, and more.
2.  **Automated payroll state registrations:** Existing platforms make founders interface with state agencies, leading to errors & fines. Central automates this entire process resulting in accurate tax IDs and withholding rates.
3.  **Automated payroll tax filings:** Existing platforms cover some taxes, and leave founders to handle the rest, leading to mistakes and fines. Central pays all taxes and verifies payments with federal, state, and local agencies.
4.  **Automated worker’s comp:** When you hire your first employee in a state, you need state-specific worker’s compensation insurance. Existing platforms make you go to other platforms to get a policy, leading to missed coverage and fines. Instead, Central sets it up and ensures payment automatically.
5.  **Government mail monitoring**: Founders often miss important government mail due to address changes. To combat this, Central adds a virtual mailing address to all of your state filings. This virtual address stays the same when you move, so Central can notify you about government mail and take the appropriate action.

**Business compliance & insurance**

1.  **Foreign qualifications & city registrations:** Central handles the necessary business filings & the registered agent in your HQ city/state and other states when required.
2.  **Continuous BOI reporting to FinCEN:** The Corporate Transparency Act requires companies to submit beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports to FinCEN. Central files this for you and keeps it updated as officers and their information change.
3.  **Business insurance:** Central can set up insurance for general liability, directors and officers, cyber, errors and omissions, and more.

**Benefits**

1.  **Medical, dental & vision insurance:** Central offers plans from top carriers for small groups and individuals. We automate setup and payments, making it easy for you. Pranav (co-founder at Central) is a licensed broker and expert and can guide you to avoid common mistakes.
2.  **Life insurance:** Integrated with payroll for pre-tax deductions.
3.  **401k:** Central partners with Guideline to provide easy payroll integration and pre-tax deductions.

And, support via a shared Slack channel, phone & email.

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**🏎️ GET STUFF DONE INSTANTLY VIA SLACK**
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Existing platforms are a maze. You need to dig through 7 layers of UI with a shovel to get anything done.

With Central, you simply ask our bot, and it handles it for you (with your confirmation).

It’s like your company’s first head of HR/finance.

Our customers love the ease of:

*   **Retrieving company info & docs:** Get company EIN, certificate of incorporation, W-9, etc.
*   **Updating employee info:** Adjust salaries, start dates, titles, etc.
*   **Accessing personal docs:** Find offer letters, paystubs, health insurance cards, W-2s etc.
*   **Tracking offers & payroll:** See when employees sign, onboard, and get paid.
*   **Understanding their paystubs:** Break down taxes, pay dates, and more.

([Link to GIF]( if not loading)



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**🧑‍💻 ABOUT US**
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*   **Mission:** Liberate founders to create value.
*   **Started:** 1.5 years ago
*   **Customers:** 50+ YC companies
*   **Team:** 3 co-founders + 7 full-time employees + 3 contractors
*   **Founders:**
    *   [Josh Wymer]( Previously led engineering teams at Meta and Mixpanel (second product engineer).
    *   [Pranav Kashyap]( Previously led product teams at Stripe and Mixpanel
    *   [Nilay Modi]( Previously a co-founder and fine payer at Clayboard (W20)

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**🎁 START FOR FREE -** [
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_10 mins to setup + we’ll do all the migration work_


