Incorporating my startup in the US as a European

[jesusdaughter146]

I'm a software engineer from Greece working at a FAANG company from Spain since the beginning of the year. I've been working on a startup on the side for quite some time now (solo founder), which I wish to launch in the coming months. It's a B2B SaaS product with a global market (telecommunications engineering), probably targeting the US a bit more (as one would do with many other markets).

The product is almost finished. So far, nothing has been published/publicly announced.

The idea I have in mind is this: as soon as I leave my job, begin the incorporation process. However, this is not something I have experience with. I believe there are online services like Stripe Atlas etc. to help you form a Delaware C-Corp (I think it might be better for the company to be in the US for investors, decent accelerators like YC*, and because most of my customers are there).

However, I'm not sure whether this is at all possible as a EU citizen without a visa or anything. Is this at all feasible? Would you recommend staying away from the US entirely because of the extra pain of incorporating there as a non-US founder? Could I perhaps take advantage of my current job to request some kind of visa for them to move me to the US and slowly "escape" into another type of visa and try to navigate the startup world from there? How long would all this process take?

I don't mind whether I end up physically living/spending most of my time in Spain/EU or the US.

(I could also potentially apply for an O-1A visa, but I think it'd be pretty restrictive, plus more immigration paperwork needed.)

*I've heard YC can hook you up with some good immigration lawyers

 

[g%C3%A5%C2%A3g%C3%B6t%D0%82%C3%A3]

@jesusdaughter146 You don’t need to be American or live in the US to open a US C-corp. They have explained it well on the Stripe Atlas website. I have opened my company 5 years ago, and I am European.

Advice: don’t open a company until you need to write someone an invoice (charge your product).

 

[613jono]

@g%C3%A5%C2%A3g%C3%B6t%D0%82%C3%A3 Is there a path to obtain a visa to live in the US?

 

[g%C3%A5%C2%A3g%C3%B6t%D0%82%C3%A3]

@613jono You can either get a job from a US company and they get you the H-1B visa, or you can get an O1 visa for special recognition in your country, or you can start studying in the US and get a student visa, or you can marry an American. Maybe there are more options, I am not a lawyer