Where do you think the best conditions are for setting up a company?
For the past few months, there has been discussion in Europe about creating a concept like EU Inc. (the 28th regime) – a single pan-European legal company structure with:
100% online incorporation
extremely fast setup (target: ~48 hours)
operation across the entire EU without needing to establish 27 separate companies
a “digital-first” corporate lifecycle
So far, within Europe, people most often set up companies in Estonia, mainly due to its low tax burden and fully digital infrastructure, as well as in countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, or Hungary.
Outside Europe, common choices include India, the UAE (Dubai), and the USA (especially Wyoming or Denver).
Do you have any personal experience with where it turned out to be the most advantageous (and at what revenue levels)? Or how much were the administrative and maintenance costs typically?
Because it often sounds great in theory that you save money, but then you end up spending tens of thousands on maintenance and compliance in another jurisdiction. I was condisering to fund in the US but it turned out that I still had to pay taxes in my country with fees. 🫠
Replies
OpenOwl
I explored US and other jurisdictions too, but in reality operational simplicity, compliance, and tax residency matter more than “low tax” marketing.
Many setups sound great until you still pay taxes locally plus foreign maintenance costs.
I’m running a product with ~200k users, and honestly finding acquisition interest is harder than incorporation. 😅
The EU Inc idea actually sounds genuinely practical.
@mihir_kanzariya the biggest thing I have noticed is that the country you live in tends to matter more than the country where your company is registered. A lot of founders assume they can optimize taxes by going global early, but local tax rules usually still apply. That creates extra filings and sometimes double taxation. It looks efficient at first, but the reality can get complicated very quickly
For anyone thinking about raising funding, places like Delaware keep coming up because investors are comfortable with that structure. It is not always the cheapest option, but it removes friction later when talking to VCs. That kind of long-term thinking matters more than short-term savings in many cases.
OpenOwl
@frances_diazon Completely agree.
OpenOwl
@new_user___0932026a86e905cf4b2b7f7 Very true. I learned this the hard way.
I’m a solo builder from a software engineering background. In 2023–24, I built an AI app that went viral and reached $10k MRR in around 3 weeks. But I had no real experience scaling from $10k to $100k, so after speaking with multiple people, I decided it might be better to sell the business to someone more experienced in growth.
I listed it on acquisition marketplaces and received multiple offers. One serious buyer offered around $150k, DD was completed, and everything looked ready.
But the deal collapsed during payment infrastructure transfer. I discovered that due to my country’s regulations, I couldn’t transfer or migrate the payment gateway customers and subscription setup the way the buyer needed. After months of back and forth, the acquisition was canceled.
Revenue eventually dropped from $10k MRR to around $1k/month.
That experience completely changed how I think about company jurisdiction. Sometimes it’s not about taxes at all. It’s about whether your business can actually operate, scale, or exit smoothly.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@new_user___0932026a86e905cf4b2b7f7 @mihir_kanzariya wow, thank you for sharing this + it is kinda demotivating to start something when such obstacles can cross your path. Actutally it killed all the potential you could have from that.
@new_user___0932026a86e905cf4b2b7f7 nailed it. Where you live matters way more than where you incorporate.
As a solo founder I spent more time than I'd like to admit researching Wyoming LLCs, Estonia e-Residency, the whole thing. The actual answer for most indie makers: just incorporate where you are and start shipping. The tax optimization stuff only starts mattering at revenue levels where you can afford an accountant to figure it out for you.
The EU Inc. concept is interesting though. Right now the friction of operating across EU borders is genuinely painful if you have customers in multiple member states. A single structure that handles all of that would remove a real blocker, not just a theoretical one.
Curious if anyone here has actually done the Estonia e-Residency route and whether the day-to-day reality matched the
marketing.