4 ms·

If you replace the SF part with the distributed team part, is there any real advantage to using 'blockchain' corps vs delaware corps?

by novok 7y ago

nostrademons 7y ago
A lot cheaper, with less administrative hassle. DE C-Corp incorporation will run you a couple grand, with minimal annual fees in the few hundreds, and you have to do various administrative tasks like file your annual reports (on a website that looks like it was made in 1995), hold annual meetings with minutes (even if it's just yourself), re-elect yourself President every year (even if you are the only shareholder), etc. If there are any disputes or anything is done incorrectly, you're looking at tens-to-hundreds-of-thousands in legal fees. The blockchain dream (which still needs a lot of tooling and infrastructure) is that you fill out a form once, incorporation and annual maintenance is basically free, and most of the mundane legal stuff is enforced by software for very small fees. He also mentions nation-states as a configurable parameter: basically this would mean that moving your company's legal jurisdiction would be as simple as updating a form field, and nations would have to compete to retain businesses.
- godzillabrennus 7y ago
  Formation costs aren’t that high these days unless you need a lawyer for special circumstances: https://www.delawareregisteredagent.com/incorporation-form https://www.delawareregisteredagent.com/incorporation-form
  - jjoonathan 7y ago
    Don't all of these still cost $1000/yr in California franchise fees if you so much as touch CA?
  - randyklahey 7y ago
    Please note that this is not an official site of the state of Delaware, but is a private entity completely unaffiliated with the state of Delaware. I was burned as their customer once, and investigated how they're put together when something felt off. It's a shell company of "Northwest Registered Agent", a shadowy company that has dozens of shell companies for each state and does SEO to get them to the top when you search how to register a company in these states. They're not reputable and you should absolutely stay away from them in the future. If you see onlineaccount.net in any of the source code for the page, or if it directs you there after login, it's the same shell company.
    - nostrademons 7y ago
      Folks looking to incorporate should be aware that there are a lot of scams in the space. Aside from this one, there are a zillion companies that will try to sell you labor law posters for ~$100 (which you can print out for free from the Department of Labor's website), and there are companies that scan public records filings for approved incorporations and automatically squat on the domain name and try to sell it back to you for $1000. Make sure you register your domain before incorporating and then transfer it from your personal account to the corporate one. You also actually do need a registered agent, but probably not that one. I incorporated through Clerky (which is reputable, YC uses them), but it costs much closer to $1000 than $50, and then Clerky has a partnership with CSC (Corporation Services Company) to act as the registered agent. CSC itself will try to upsell you on various services that you don't technically need.
      - randyklahey 7y ago
        Honestly, find a reputable attorney in the region you want to incorporate and file through them. It may cost a few bucks more, but it's worth it.
    - godzillabrennus 7y ago
      I’ve formed a lot of companies with them and never had lousy customer service. YMMV but you are right that they aren’t a government agency. They provide a legal agreement template between founders as well as registered agent services.
- novok 7y ago
  Is that machinery actually real in any way? Just because you write something on a database somewhere doesn't give it any sort of special legal status, which is why people register for corporations in specific jurisdictions, so those jurisdictions treat their organization differently than something informal.

If you replace the SF part with the distributed team part, is there any real advantage to using 'blockchain' corps vs delaware corps?

by novok 7y ago

If you replace the SF part with the distributed team part, is there any real advantage to using 'blockchain' corps vs delaware corps?

nostrademons 7y ago

A lot cheaper, with less administrative hassle. DE C-Corp incorporation will run you a couple grand, with minimal annual fees in the few hundreds, and you have to do various administrative tasks like file your annual reports (on a website that looks like it was made in 1995), hold annual meetings with minutes (even if it's just yourself), re-elect yourself President every year (even if you are the only shareholder), etc. If there are any disputes or anything is done incorrectly, you're looking at tens-to-hundreds-of-thousands in legal fees. The blockchain dream (which still needs a lot of tooling and infrastructure) is that you fill out a form once, incorporation and annual maintenance is basically free, and most of the mundane legal stuff is enforced by software for very small fees. He also mentions nation-states as a configurable parameter: basically this would mean that moving your company's legal jurisdiction would be as simple as updating a form field, and nations would have to compete to retain businesses.

godzillabrennus 7y ago
Formation costs aren’t that high these days unless you need a lawyer for special circumstances: https://www.delawareregisteredagent.com/incorporation-form https://www.delawareregisteredagent.com/incorporation-form
- jjoonathan 7y ago
  Don't all of these still cost $1000/yr in California franchise fees if you so much as touch CA?
- randyklahey 7y ago
  Please note that this is not an official site of the state of Delaware, but is a private entity completely unaffiliated with the state of Delaware. I was burned as their customer once, and investigated how they're put together when something felt off. It's a shell company of "Northwest Registered Agent", a shadowy company that has dozens of shell companies for each state and does SEO to get them to the top when you search how to register a company in these states. They're not reputable and you should absolutely stay away from them in the future. If you see onlineaccount.net in any of the source code for the page, or if it directs you there after login, it's the same shell company.
  - nostrademons 7y ago
    Folks looking to incorporate should be aware that there are a lot of scams in the space. Aside from this one, there are a zillion companies that will try to sell you labor law posters for ~$100 (which you can print out for free from the Department of Labor's website), and there are companies that scan public records filings for approved incorporations and automatically squat on the domain name and try to sell it back to you for $1000. Make sure you register your domain before incorporating and then transfer it from your personal account to the corporate one. You also actually do need a registered agent, but probably not that one. I incorporated through Clerky (which is reputable, YC uses them), but it costs much closer to $1000 than $50, and then Clerky has a partnership with CSC (Corporation Services Company) to act as the registered agent. CSC itself will try to upsell you on various services that you don't technically need.
    - randyklahey 7y ago
      Honestly, find a reputable attorney in the region you want to incorporate and file through them. It may cost a few bucks more, but it's worth it.
  - godzillabrennus 7y ago
    I’ve formed a lot of companies with them and never had lousy customer service. YMMV but you are right that they aren’t a government agency. They provide a legal agreement template between founders as well as registered agent services.
novok 7y ago
Is that machinery actually real in any way? Just because you write something on a database somewhere doesn't give it any sort of special legal status, which is why people register for corporations in specific jurisdictions, so those jurisdictions treat their organization differently than something informal.