I'm on my 3rd company (first web startup), and I've never spent more than $1500 to start. If you're willing to get down and dirty with legal docs, you can easil

I'm on my 3rd company (first web startup), and I've never spent more than $1500 to start. If you're willing to get down and dirty with legal docs, you can easily draft everything yourself (this of course takes great attention to detail and enough confidence in your ability to rid yourself of the notion that they're too difficult for common folk to write) and just get a lawyer to review it. Then, if you're equally willing to throw yourself into the code and server setup, customer interaction, and the networking that goes along with starting a business, again, it doesn't cost much. I like LLC's personally because they're simple, protective, and structurally transparent. Then again, I don't usually go out and seek investment funding. I like to startup out of pocket, launch early the agile way, and then fund development with revenue.