Where to Start From Scratch
If you are working on AI agent systems and starting up, this is for you.
Table of contents
Key takeaway
Most setup panic comes from trying to do everything at once. There is an order, and you can take it one step at a time.
Key takeaway
The big early forks, like entity type and where to form, matter, and they are also changeable later, so do not let them freeze you.
Key takeaway
Set up your business banking, bookkeeping, and a calendar of recurring filings from day one, because these small tasks accumulate over time.
You have the idea. You are ready to go. Then you open a browser tab to “how to start a company” and the floor drops out. LLC or C-corp? Delaware or your own state? Do you need an EIN before a bank account or after? What is an 83(b) and why does everyone say you have 30 days? Insurance? Compliance? An hour later you have 14 tabs open and you have built nothing.
We have been there. The panic is real, and almost all of it comes from one thing: trying to decide everything at once, in no particular order. The fix is not more research. It is a sequence.
Here is the order we wish someone had handed us.
1. Get clear on what you are building
Before any paperwork, answer two plain questions. What are you making, and who is it for? You do not need a company to talk to your first users, sketch the thing, or even take a verbal yes. The entity exists to hold money, sign agreements, and own what you create. Until you are close to one of those, you are free to just build and learn.
2. Pick the entity shape
When you are about to take money or bring on a cofounder, you form. The common forks are an LLC and a C-corp. The short version: many founders who plan to raise from investors choose a C-corp, and many solo or small operators start with an LLC. Both are normal. This is a real decision and a reversible one, so read the tradeoffs, pick, and move. We go deeper on this in the next post.
3. Decide where to form
You will hear “everyone forms in Delaware.” Plenty of founders do, for reasons that matter most if you plan to raise. Plenty of others form in their home state and are completely fine. The right answer depends on your plan, not on the loudest advice. We cover when Delaware helps and when it does not in its own post.
4. Do the first paperwork, in order
Once you form, a small stack of early items follows. An EIN, which is your company’s tax ID. A registered agent, which is just an address that can receive official mail. Your governing documents. And if you are issuing yourself equity, the early election that has a real deadline. Most of these are quick. The one with a clock is the one to learn first, because missing it is one of the few setup mistakes that is hard to undo.
5. Set up the money plumbing
Open a business bank account and keep your company money apart from your personal money from the very first dollar. Start simple bookkeeping on day one, even if it is a spreadsheet. This is the least glamorous step and the one that saves you the most pain later, at tax time, at a raise, or any time someone asks “what did you actually spend.”
6. Protect what you are building
Insurance feels like a problem for later, right up until it is not. A new company usually starts by looking at a couple of basic kinds of coverage, sized to what you actually do. Alongside that sits compliance, which is mostly a short list of recurring filings that keep you in good standing. Neither is exciting. Both are a calendar reminder away from being handled, and a missed deadline away from being a headache.
7. The part nobody says out loud
You can fix most of this later. The entity, the state, the bookkeeping, the coverage, all of it can be changed as you grow. A small number of items have a real deadline, and those are worth getting right the first time. For everything else, the cost of waiting to make it perfect is higher than the cost of picking a reasonable option and moving. The companies that make it are not the ones with flawless setup. They are the ones that kept building while they sorted it out.
Where we land
This is what has worked for us and what we wish we had known earlier, shared founder to founder. It is not legal or tax advice, and the real sources, the actual filing pages and the people licensed to advise you, are the ones to lean on for your specific case. What we can offer is the map and the order, so the blank-page panic turns into a checklist you can walk one step at a time.
If you are at the very start, or you already have a company and want to sanity-check what you set up, that is exactly what we are getting into on the call. We do not have all the answers, so come share what you have learned too, and wherever you want to go deeper we are glad to dig in together.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first thing to do when starting a company?
Get clear on what you are actually building and who it is for. You do not need a legal entity to validate an idea or talk to your first users. Form the company when you are about to take money, sign something binding, or bring on a cofounder, and do the paperwork in order rather than all at once.
Do I need an LLC or a C-corp to start?
Not to start exploring. When you do form, the choice depends on how you plan to raise and grow. Many startups that plan to raise from investors pick a C-corp, while many solo and small operators start with an LLC. It is a real decision, and it is changeable, so learn the tradeoffs and pick, rather than stalling on it.
Can I fix my company setup later?
Most of it, yes. You can convert an entity, change where you are formed, redo your bookkeeping, and add insurance later. A few things are time-sensitive, like the early equity paperwork, so know which ones have a clock. For the rest, do not let the fear of getting it perfect stop you from building.
30-second skim
Where to Start From Scratch
The order of operations for starting a company, from the first real decision to the paperwork that waits for you.
- Most setup panic comes from trying to do everything at once. There is an order, and you can take it one step at a time.
- The big early forks, like entity type and where to form, matter, and they are also changeable later, so do not let them freeze you.
- Set up your business banking, bookkeeping, and a calendar of recurring filings from day one, because these small tasks accumulate over time.
Two-minute summary
Section headings with the first sentence from each. Built from the full post.
- Building summary...
Cite this post
Take Interest Inc. (2026). Where to Start From Scratch. TAKE INTEREST. https://takeinterest.ai/blog/where-to-start-from-scratch
Take it with you
Save the link to come back to it, or pass it along.
Related interests
How Anyone Can Start
Starting a company is not a tech skill. Here is how anyone can stand one up and verify the basics.
C-Corp or LLC: How to Think About the Choice
A plain-language look at the two most common ways founders form a company, what actually separates them, and how to pick without getting stuck.
The Early Paperwork That Catches You Later
A short tour of the first filings every new company faces, which ones are quick, and the one with a real deadline you do not want to miss.