# Company setup for founders

Seven choices a first-time founder makes when forming a company: legal form, state, tax treatment, founder shares, ownership of the work, name and tax number.

Canonical URL: https://worldenterprise.org/briefs/company-setup/
Last updated: 2026-10-10
Publisher: World Enterprise, run by World Enterprise Group Incorporated

Founders are usually handed a checklist for starting a company, and a checklist makes every item look like a form. This brief reads each item as a decision and asks what it settles, what it leaves open and what it costs to change later.

It covers the main choices in the order they tend to arise: the legal form, the state of formation, tax treatment, how the founders divide ownership, who owns the code, the company name and the tax number. For each one it reports what public sources from United States agencies say, then separates that report from analysis.

One choice carries a deadline that starts running when shares are issued, and the brief says why that one should not wait. It also gives questions to ask a lawyer or an accountant before committing to any of the choices.

The brief names its sources and states the limits of what they can show. It does not cover other jurisdictions, and it does not say which choice is right for your company.

It is general information for founders. It is not legal, tax or investment advice.

## What is inside

- The question this brief answers
- About the evidence
- How to read the choices
- Choice one: the legal form of the company
- Choice two: where to form it
- Choice three: how the company is taxed
- Choice four: dividing the ownership among the founders
- Choice five: owning what the company makes
- Choice six: the name
- Choice seven: the tax number and the registrations that follow
- The choices side by side
- Questions to ask before choosing
- What this brief cannot tell you
- Sources