
If I Launched a Startup - rpledge
http://startuplawyer.com/startup-issues/if-i-launched-a-startup
======
wyclif
Regarding #2, his second link: "Top 5 Reasons To Incorporate in Delaware":
[http://startuplawyer.com/incorporation/top-5-reasons-to-
inco...](http://startuplawyer.com/incorporation/top-5-reasons-to-incorporate-
in-delaware)

IANAL, but that all sounds like good advice to me. He adds that you shouldn't
consider DE to be the default choice, but here's another take from a corporate
attorney that was posted on HN:

<http://www.grellas.com/faq_business_startup_002.html>

My takeaway from this is to avoid being tempted to skip deep and prolonged
consideration of Step #2.

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rradu
I've always thought handling legal documents and doing taxes for a startup
would be difficult.

I assume most don't actually keep a lawyer on hand, but what about accountants
for taxes in small 10-person companies?

Do you need one or is it possible to do it yourself? Does H&R Block handle
that sort of stuff?

~~~
davidmurphy
I personally _strongly_ recommend against using H&R Block for business needs.
Their focus IMHO is on personal taxes not business taxes.

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mkramlich
In the general case, it seems wiser and more efficient to do as little
paperwork as possible before you have paying customers. (Assuming
software/website-only business, assuming not going into field with more
extreme/bureaucratic regulation, or lives are on the line, etc.) This is
another argument for being a sole founder -- don't have to worry about a
partnership breaking down and having to figure out who has what. Again, at
least until you have revenue coming in.

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bandhunt
Why waste time incorporating? I'd just put it under some umbrella LLC (cheap &
quick) until it has traction. After traction then you can move to C corp only
if it's necessary to raise capital.

~~~
timr
If you click on the second "Corporation" link, you'll find that there's a
whole post explaining why you shouldn't go with an LLC.

In any case, if you're going to incorporate "cheap and quick" as an LLC, you
can do the same as an C-corporation. There are online services that will do it
for you.

~~~
abstractbill
At the same time though, this isn't an unfixable problem (I think I remember
Mark Zuckerberg saying in a talk once that Facebook started out as a Florida
(or something) LLC, and that was one of the first things the lawyers fixed for
them when they raised money).

------
jmtame
just curious, is there a reason why you list the par value of common at
$0.0001 and not $0.00001 (note the extra 0 there)?

i'm guessing there would be a difference in taxes under delaware (ie $100 for
10mm at $0.0001 vs. $1,000 for 10mm at $0.0001 under the "total authorized
shares" tax calculation method).

