How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
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Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#2Very, very helpful.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#3Thanks for the post.
Reading this made me quite angry - politicians here in Germany always talk out of their asses about improving the situation for startups, but when it comes to removing these ridiculous administrative hurdles, absolutely nothing happens.
In Austria, where I live, it's even worse. It's not even possible to start a limited liability company without at least 35k starting capital in the bank.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#4This issue wasn't about starting a startup in Germany as a GmbH, though.
The issue was "flipping" that GmbH into a Delaware C-Corp, by request of YCombinator.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#5Thanks for the post. Reading this made me quite angry - politicians here in Germany always talk out of their asses about improving the situation for startups, but when it comes to removing these ridiculous administrative hurdles, absolutely nothing happens. In Austria, where I live, it's even worse. It's not even possible to start a limited liability company without at least 35k starting capital in the bank.
Agreed, they’ve been talking about introducing an “Austrian limited” with lower capital requirements for I don’t know how long…
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#6I think this is one of the reasons why Germany doesn't have a startup ecosystem.
People who are loosely playing with the idea of running their own tiny company (e.g. as a student side gig, not with the "I'm planning this like a businessperson and here's my plan how to turn it into a unicorn and how to exit" approach) take a look at the system and bureaucracy, and simply give up and forever write off the concept of running your own company as a worthwhile option.
Even becoming an independent contractor is fraught with many of the same hurdles. This creates a strong push towards employment vs. doing your own thing.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#7Great post, fully agree. Also, if you plan on leaving Germany you can save a lot on taxes if you do it before 100k profits/year and as a Personengesellschaft (without limited liability, so no UG/GmbH).
Basically because the Wegzugsbesteuerung (moving away tax) only affects limited liability entities and Personengesellschaften are only affected by the Steuerentstrickung, which can be minimized by saying your profits are equivalent to a salary you'd be making elsewhere.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#8This issue wasn't about starting a startup in Germany as a GmbH, though. The issue was "flipping" that GmbH into a Delaware C-Corp, by request of YCombinator.
Wasn’t the whole first part about how annoying it was to create a startup in Germany, and what he learned in the second part made him realise he shouldn’t have even bothered in the first place (regardless of whether or not YC would eventually be involved)? That was how I interpreted it anyway.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#9Thanks for the post. Reading this made me quite angry - politicians here in Germany always talk out of their asses about improving the situation for startups, but when it comes to removing these ridiculous administrative hurdles, absolutely nothing happens. In Austria, where I live, it's even worse. It's not even possible to start a limited liability company without at least 35k starting capital in the bank.
As a Danish software engineer I'm puzzled by how much Germany has convinced the rest world that it is some kind of high-tech powerhouse. Outside the old West German legacy giants the country is stagnant.
Re: How I would start my next startup in Germany without a GmbH (2020)
#10Bruh, 2 Euro for a Döner?