Comment by Peanut | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Peanut | Hacker News Reader

that sounds like an absolutely TERRIBLE idea.

dealing with competent lawyers is bad enough, do not subject yourself to what will amount to a miserable experiment in futility just because he's the only lawyer you know.

if you need money (first off ask yourself what you actually need money for), get someone with money who will let you do your thing

to set up the C-crop, you SHOULD use a lawyer. ask friends or friend's of friends for recommendations. get a lawyer who will charge a flat fee, ours is only charging us $750 to issue the stock/create the bylaws/etc. use a bigname incorporation service to actually incorporate you in delaware if you have not yet done so (we used www.ctadvantage.com, cost us like $900 but only because we were stupid and had started off as an LLC and then decided to switch to C-corp).

the mental-illness dude does not sound like he can help you with either money or legal matters and will be more trouble than he's worth. STAY AWAY FROM HIM

hope this helps

If all you want to do is incorporate and you are going to be the sole shareholder, you can do it via an Internet service. Lawyers are useful if you need anything more complex than this e.g., agreements for the initial shareholders, stock options agreements, etc.

If all you're doing is creating a corporation for legal protection, then do it yourself.

One word of advice though, think through how many shares you want to issue. If you're going to offer stock options, then issue a huge number - like 10 million. If you don't think you'll need options, then go for just a few.

If you pick too few now, you'll need to hire a laywer in the future to help you with a stock split or share issue to increase the number of shares.

Also, one other word: if you're just incorporating for yourself and don't plan on getting any venture funding in the foreseeable future, incorporate as an LLC so you can pass the tax losses from your company on to your personal taxes.

Don't issue 10 million shares just yet. Otherwise, I agree with the rest of lindsayrgwatt advice.

Since you're incorporating in Delaware, keep in mind that Delaware taxes are calculated based on the number of shares you authorize. You could end up paying tens of thousands of dollars in taxes (http://www.corp.delaware.gov/frtaxcalc.shtml).

I used incorporate.com and they cost about $200 or so for a Delaware corporation, and I would recommend them. If you're the sole owner then there is not much to worry about. After you incorporate, you can have your "accountant" look at the documents and tell you if you're missing something. They usually know how these things work. You don't necessarily need an attorney at this early stage.

Any recommendations for an internet service to register an LLC? I'd google, but that kind of search tends to come back with diluted results.

Peanut, you've hit on something of importance, that I was mis-valuing before: do I need his money?

Upon further reflection, I probably don't need it. And when I reach the stage where I do need it, I probably want to get it from a real angel investor. Even if that didn't work out, I still have better places to get funding than this guy.

Guess I'll just have to pay a lawyer who specializes in tech startups.

This really clarifies the decision. Thanks!

glad i could help =)

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