Start your incorporation this week: a checklist for entity, equity, and signatures
Start the paperwork in the channel you will actually use, keep the big calls yours, and finish the same application without restarting.
Incorporation
First
Utah LLC Documents: Use 16-20-107, Not 16-20-112
A first-time founder can fix stale LLC citations with a short checklist, without treating the recodification as a company event.
Get Your EIN Assigned: Fix the SS-4 Lines Before Your Application Stalls
A stalled EIN request usually needs a line-level fix, especially for founders without a U.S. tax ID.
Two-Founder Equity Split and Vesting Checklist
Before signing formation documents, set the split, add vesting, and write both decisions down so a founder exit doesn't become a company-ending fight.
Before You Incorporate: Entity Choice and QSBS Paperwork
Before filing, choose the entity that can qualify and keep the records that make the founder stock exclusion real.
Shorten Your Incorporation Checklist: Drop the BOI Filing, Keep Bank Ownership Questions
The ownership paperwork shrinks, but your bank still needs the same answers, and foreign-formed entities may need a separate reporting check.
Before You File: EIN, Entity, or Wait
Ask whether you are building a hiring business before applying for an EIN or filing entity paperwork.
Before you file: Delaware unless you can check both of these narrow boxes
Pick the entity that will not force a redomicile before your first raise.
Cap-Table Tool Rule for Founders With a SAFE or Two
A pre-seed founder with a small equity stack should pick the cheapest tool that models the current stack, shows a clean table, and leaves room to move.
Incorporate Without Losing Cap Table Control
Use a formation vendor for routine paperwork, but keep founder agreements, tax elections, cap table, and investor documents with your own lawyer.
Before Your Term Sheet: A Delaware Conflict-Transaction Checklist
A pre-seed checklist for founders: spot conflict transactions, get approvals, and confirm Section 144 and Section 220 language before signing.
Incorporate Alone: 83(b), Vesting, IP Checklist
A practical checklist for a solo founder incorporating a C corp before first revenue, covering entity, 83(b), option pool, vesting, and IP.
Then
Delaware Charter Audit Before Your Term Sheet: 2026 Changes
Check your Delaware entity records before a term sheet so control, service, and cleanup rules work as expected.
First SAFE cap checklist for 2026 pre-revenue founders
Set the cap from the round size, default to a post-money cap-only SAFE, and keep SAFE dilution inside a 15-20 percent budget.
Year-One Entity Cost Sheet: Check Delaware LLC Fees First
Build a one-page year-one entity cost sheet before incorporating, with Delaware LLC fees, deadlines, series charges, and a home-state comparison line.
Startup Bank Account Checklist for Branch Day
Bring the entity documents, tax ID, owner IDs, signer forms, and a real address so the branch can verify the business before opening the account.
C Corp or LLC Before an Investor Call: A 5-Question Checklist
Pick the entity that matches your likely next move: venture funding, retained profit, exit tax, control, or later conversion.
Get the EIN Your Bank and Payroll Will Ask For
A checklist for founders who need an EIN to open a business account or set up payroll without losing a day.
Keep QSBS Alive: The Founder Checklist to Run Before Incorporation and the First Investment
A plain-English founder checklist for QSBS eligibility: entity choice, direct issuance, service limits, asset test, holding clock, and when to call a tax attorney.
Keep Your QSBS Exemption Alive From Incorporation to First Customers
Before your first customer, choose the entity, cap table, and financing habits that keep the QSBS exemption intact.
If Google Play Blocks Your Donation Link, Pick Your Entity Before You Need It
Before a store rejects your donation link, choose the legal entity that can prove where the money goes.
Clear Your Startup Name Before Incorporation: MCA, Trademark, Domain Checklist
Before filing, clear your name in three layers: corporate registration, trademark, and public web, so you do not build a company on a name you may lose.
Choose Delaware or an Israeli Ltd Before Your First Raise: A Founder’s Decision Tree and Checklist
Before your first US share issuance, run five questions and a pre-raise checklist to choose the entity that protects founder shares and investor expectations.
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