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Startup incorporation checklist

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Re: Startup incorporation checklist

#91
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That might work with some registered agents, but it won't with Incorp - they will require you to either have a new registered agent in place, or you need to dissolve your company.

My experience with InCorp was exactly as described earlier. They resigned and that was that.

Good to hear... we repeatedly ran into this issue with them over the course of several years. I can't tell you how many times we argued with them over this. But it sounds like they may have reformed their ways!

Re: Startup incorporation checklist

#92
post #50

As a quick plug, you can sign your incorporation docs with HelloSign ( http://www.hellosign.com ) and fax Delaware with HelloFax ( http://www.hellofax.com ). (Co-founder of HelloSign and HelloFax)

HelloFax has been a great service in my incorporation process (and I listed it in the "Tools & Resources" part of the checklist!). In my case, I used the InCorp service to file my DE docs since I needed an expedited service and they could walk the documents over on my behalf. In the past, I did that portion myself. Thanks for building a great service and down with the fax machines!

Nice, really appreciate you listing us.

Down with the fax machines! :)

Re: Startup incorporation checklist

#93
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the United States you will not be penalized for having no revenue.

You are effectively penalized in California for zero revenue, see all the comments in this thread about the $800/yr minimum tax.

To clarify, I was assuming State and Federal fees not to be considered being penalized and simply cost of doing business.

Re: Startup incorporation checklist

#95
post #60
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US startups are very welcome to use Atlas -- many already have!

I was turned down. Have you opened it to everybody?

Hm -- can you drop me a note? (patrick@stripe.com.) I'd like to dig into why. It's still invite-only but you shouldn't have been turned down because you're in the US.

Re: Startup incorporation checklist

#96
post #95
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was turned down. Have you opened it to everybody?

Hm -- can you drop me a note? (patrick@stripe.com.) I'd like to dig into why. It's still invite-only but you shouldn't have been turned down because you're in the US.

Just got an invite in my mailbox. Thanks for following up! Love what you guys are doing.

Re: Startup incorporation checklist

#97
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the advantage of using Clerky versus one of the suggested free tools on this repository? For example, here's one of the suggestions: http://www.foundersworkbench.com/document-driver/ Based on a cursory review of this service, which claims to be free, it looks like vesting, the appointment of directors/officers, an IP assignment agreement and even the 83(b) election letter is provided. Does Clerky provide somet…

If you use any of the free document generators out there, you are left to your own to figure out what to do with the generated documents. It's not rocket science - you can definitely figure it out, with enough research. But it will take you a long time and it's cumbersome - consequently, you are highly likely to mess it up in some way or another. We started Clerky exactly to solve this problem - as startup lawyers, e…

I think the reliably messing up isn't so much the lack of attention to detail, but the second point: not knowing what the standard is, why it's the standard, and why something should be done in particular way.

Definitely a you don't know what you don't know and it's hard to test safely. Done wrong, this stuff doesn't immediately blow up in your face, that happens later, usually at some future inconvenient time.

I'm still sad that I don't have debuggers, test suites, sandbox environments etc for incorporation/legal work.

Re: Startup incorporation checklist

#98
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we were turned down because we aren't located in a disadvantaged country... (in usa). kind of lame tbh.

It sounds like there was some confusion here -- you do not by any means have to be from a "disadvantaged" country. Can you email me (patrick@stripe.com) and tmf@stripe.com so that we can investigate what happened?

It might be worth clarifying that on the website.

I looked into Atlas and definitely got the impression that it's only for non-US businesses.

Re: Startup incorporation checklist

#99
Although I appreciate this list is aimed at a narrow case (incorporation in Delaware with operations in California), I'd still pay a little more attention to the "choose a name for your business" stage to avoid surprises.

At the very least, check the name isn't a registered trademark in a similar business (at uspto.gov), and that there isn't another significant company with the same name globally (opencorporates.com is a good starting point, as well as Google).

You don't want to limit international expansion later by picking a name that is a well-known company already. For example, when Burger King expanded to Australia in the 1970's the name Burger King was already trademarked locally, so they had to rebrand as Hungry Jack's.

Of course also do a Google search to see if words in the name are widely used, perhaps meaning something unsuitable in another language.

Finally, although maybe becoming less important, it's useful if the .com domain is available (either unregistered, or at a reasonable price).

Better to do all this before spending the money on incorporating with a name you might need to change later.

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