Hello!
YC is getting more and more powerful in helping companies, so for my next venture I plan to apply. I don't plan although to stay in US long term.<p>So it doesn't really make sense to incorporate in US if then I will run the company from abroad its entire lifetime.<p>Is it possible to avoid incorporating in US if accepted in YC?<p>I usually incorporate as a UK's LTD, since I live in UK and it's a common choice for EU tech companies.<p>Thanks
My take for what it's worth.<p>If the company is successful, the cost of paying else someone to manage the details of a Delaware corporation is almost certainly going to be much less than the opportunity cost incurred when a founder manages that level of detail regardless of where the company incorporates.<p>Or to put it another way, since using a UK LTD instead of a Delaware Corp. is unlikely to effect the odds of the company's success, there's not a clear <i>business</i> case for expending energy on it in the context of YC. That's not to discount personal values or world views only to recognize that those values and world views represent some misalignment between the founder's interests and YC's business model. YC, like any investor, invests on terms with which they are comfortable.<p>In the end, if the benefits of incorporating as an LTD outweigh those of YC's investment, then that's the way to go. If they don't, it isn't.<p>Good luck.
You're worrying about the wrong thing, the overhead of incorporate in the US shouldn't have any influence on your decision whether you apply to YC or not (unless you're doing something where there's legal complications in the US such as gambling).
> it doesn't really make sense to incorporate in US if then I will run the company from abroad its entire lifetime.<p>What made you think that?<p>> Is it possible to avoid incorporating in US if accepted in YC?<p>No, it's not possible. From <a href="http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/</a><p>"International founders, please note: if your company is a non-United States entity (corporation, limited liability company, etc.), your participation in YC is conditional on conversion of your foreign company into a United States corporation."