I've spent over 20 years building businesses that cross borders. I founded AirPop, a B2B consumer hardware brand with manufacturing in China and global distribution across the US, Europe, and Asia. Today I run AirPop and Global Solo from Hong Kong, operating a US LLC for the Global Solo business itself.
I built Global Solo because no vendor-neutral comparison hub existed for sub-$500K-revenue solo founders running US LLCs from outside the US. Every existing source was either a vendor blog (Doola, Firstbase, Stripe Atlas writing about themselves) or a generic personal-finance hub like NerdWallet that doesn't understand cross-border structure. So I built the thing I wished existed when I first set up my own US LLC from outside the US.
The site has two layers. The vendor-neutral comparison hub (Compare, By Country, Knowledge Base) is the main surface — comparing 16+ formation, banking, tax, and compliance services with affiliate disclosure on every page. The META Diagnostic (free) is an optional structural-risk layer for founders who want a pre-purchase risk map before they commit. Same author. Different products. Both built from firsthand cross-border experience.
The stack I actually use
For Global Solo (US LLC) and AirPop (cross-border B2B). Updated as the stack changes. The choices below aren't affected by who pays — they're what I actually use.
Some links on this page go to partners who compensate us. This does not affect our analysis or rankings. How we make money
- Banking (US):Mercury for Global Solo's US LLC operations — chosen for non-US-resident-friendly onboarding, FedNow rails, and clean API.
- Treasury / FX:Airwallex for AirPop's cross-border supplier and customer settlements across USD, HKD, RMB, EUR.
- Bookkeeping:Xero for both Global Solo and AirPop — handles multi-currency well and integrates with the rest of the stack.
- Payments:Stripe for Global Solo subscription / one-time charges. Standard rails; no surprises.
- Email / newsletter:Resend (transactional), LinkedIn Pulse (Border Lines monthly newsletter).
- Hosting / infra:Vercel + Supabase. Sentry for monitoring.
- AI / build:Claude Code (Anthropic) is how the entire site is built and maintained. AI-native isn't a buzzword here — it's the operating model.
Cross-Border Experience
- •Founded and scaled AirPop — B2B consumer brand with global distribution
- •Set up and managed entities across multiple jurisdictions (US, HK, China), navigating cross-border tax compliance, FBAR reporting, transfer pricing, and permanent establishment risk firsthand
- •Built Global Solo's META diagnostic framework from patterns observed firsthand across cross-border operations
Recent Articles
Hiring in India: Contractor vs EOR vs Entity (US LLC, 2026)
June 15, 2026
Mercury Is Switching Partner Banks to Column N.A.: What Non-Resident LLC Owners Need to Check (2026)
June 11, 2026
Do You Need an ITIN to Get a US Credit Card? (2026)
May 27, 2026
US LLC for Bali Digital Nomads: The 183-Day Tax Guide (2026)
May 25, 2026
Amazon FBA Sellers with US LLC: Connection Risk, IRS Data Sharing, and Account-Linking Triggers (2026)
May 19, 2026
Closing a Foreign-Owned US LLC: Dissolution, Final 5472, and the EIN Reality (2026)
May 19, 2026
Repatriating US LLC Profits to Mainland China: 5 Structural Paths Compared (2026)
May 19, 2026
Mercury IO Card vs Ramp vs Brex vs Rho: Corporate Cards for Non-Resident US LLCs (2026)
May 8, 2026
How One Invoice Gets Taxed Differently in Two Countries
April 24, 2026
Contractor or Employee: Not Your Classification
April 22, 2026