Co-founders, team & legal

Incorporation & legal setup

Set up the entity right (US & India).

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When should I actually incorporate my startup? Incorporate once you have co-founders splitting equity, you're taking money (from customers or investors), or you're signing contracts and hiring, ... Beginner 3 resources → Should I incorporate as a Delaware C-corp or an Indian Pvt Ltd? If you're raising from US/global VCs or building for a US market, default to a Delaware C-corp, it's the format investors expect and understand. If... Intermediate 3 resources → How do I incorporate a Delaware C-corp as a non-US or first-time founder? Use Stripe Atlas or Clerky, they handle the Delaware filing, EIN, founder stock, and templates for a flat fee, and you don't need to be in the US. ... Intermediate 2 resources → How do I register a Private Limited Company in India? File the SPICe+ form on the MCA21 portal, which bundles name reservation, incorporation, PAN, TAN, and more into one integrated application, most f... Intermediate 2 resources → What is DPIIT / Startup India recognition and is it worth getting? DPIIT recognition under Startup India is a free government registration that unlocks tax benefits, self-certification on labour laws, faster IP pro... Beginner 2 resources → What legal setup do I need beyond incorporation (IP, contracts, compliance)? Assign all IP to the company from every founder and contractor in writing, use clean contractor and employment agreements, and stay on top of statu... Advanced 3 resources → Do I need to incorporate a company before I have a product or any revenue? No. Incorporate when there is money or equity to protect: you're about to take investor money, sign a contract that needs a legal entity, split own... Beginner 2 resources → How much does it actually cost to incorporate and stay compliant in year one, in India vs Delaware? Budget for the ongoing cost, not just the one-time filing. An Indian Pvt Ltd is cheap to register (roughly 7,000 to 15,000 in government and profes... Beginner 3 resources → How do I split equity and put a vesting schedule in place at incorporation? Split on the future, not the past, and vest everything. Equal or near-equal splits usually age better than one founder taking 90% for the idea, bec... Intermediate 3 resources → What is a founders' agreement and what must it actually cover? It's the contract between you and your co-founders that decides what happens when things get hard, written while you still like each other. Non-neg... Intermediate 3 resources → Do I really need a company secretary, a CA, and an auditor for a Pvt Ltd, and when? A statutory auditor is mandatory for every Indian Pvt Ltd from day one, revenue or not, and must be appointed within 30 days of incorporation: this... Intermediate 3 resources → I already have an Indian Pvt Ltd but a US investor wants a Delaware parent. How does flipping work? This is a 'flip', and it's a heavy, expensive, tax-sensitive operation, not a form you file. The US investor's fund typically cannot invest into an... Advanced 3 resources → How do I set up an ESOP pool and grant equity to my early employees legally? Create the option pool at or before your first priced round, typically 10 to 15% of the cap table, because investors will ask you to carve it out a... Advanced 3 resources → Should I use an incorporation service like Clerky, Stripe Atlas, or an Indian filing platform, or hire a lawyer directly? For a clean, standard incorporation, a good platform is faster and cheaper than a lawyer and gets the boilerplate right. Use Stripe Atlas or Clerky... Beginner 3 resources → Can I keep my day job while I incorporate and start building, without losing my startup's IP? Be careful: your employment contract and its IP-assignment and non-compete clauses may claim work you do on the side, especially if it overlaps wit... Intermediate 3 resources → What licenses, registrations, and tax IDs do I need right after incorporation to legally operate and pay people? Incorporation is step one; you can't actually run a business on the CIN alone. For an Indian Pvt Ltd, get your PAN and TAN (usually issued with inc... Intermediate 3 resources → How should I handle equity or contracts for a co-founder, advisor, or contractor sitting in a different country? Cross-border people make your cap table and payroll a compliance question, not just an HR one. A US co-founder holding shares in your Indian compan... Advanced 3 resources → How do I structure a startup when I have a non-technical co-founder and a technical one, so the entity and equity reflect real ownership? The entity structure is identical regardless of who codes; what changes is how you document contribution and protect against imbalance. Both founde... Intermediate 3 resources →

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