We plan to bring eChai across 100 cities in India. It starts with eChai Startup Demo Day on 26 September, all in person. 13 cities confirmed, 698 founders registered. Any city that reaches 20 interested founders is on too. See your city

Co-founders, team & legal

Incorporation & legal setup

Set up the entity right (US & India).

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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 → 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 → 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 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 →

eChai Partner Brands The partnership →