Thread: Startup Phase ~ Registering Business name and organizing team

Here's my situation:

I have an idea for a website which as far as I can tell is going to be a big project. I'm in the process of teaching myself programming through codeacademy and taking college courses but I'm afraid I won't be able to launch as nearly as fast as I'd like.

What I've done so far:
~I bought a domain name and hosting.
--I have a hyphen in between the two words because the same domain without a hyphen was already registered and way out of my budget. I do plan on acquiring this domain name later though.

I have NOT registered any business name in any state though.
--I have plans to register a business name through a registered agent in Wyoming, under a c-corp
My reasons for picking a c-corp were to offer stock options to prospective employees as an incentive to work (as I really don't have that much cash)

I'm in the process of organizing a team:
--I haven't talked to anyone yet, but I have all the necessary legal documents to protect myself, that being: non-disclosure forms, non-competes, and confidentiality agreements.

Am I registering my business too early? Is this how a typical startup goes? This is my first startup so I just want to make sure all my i's are dotted, all the t's crossed. I have $3,000 startup capital and I'm pretty much bootsrapping this whole thing.

Also, as far as registering in a foreign state, I read about setting up a business bank account in that same state as well but I'm a bit confused by it. Will I still get taxed in California regardless?

Any advice not directly related to my question in hand is very welcome.

Major thanks in advance!
Nathan Moreno

Sounds good! I'll keep thinking of a name while I just code the backbone of the system.

Your word of caution is making me think twice about registering with a registered agent. From my understanding, you need to register with a registered agent if its a foreign state so they can receive legal business letters? So it's more like an address that's in the state, they aren't actually a part of the business. Correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe I could register with a P.O. Box and have it forwarded to another P.O. Box in my home state? (Wyoming and Nevada are very good for keeping everything private so I imagine this wouldn't be an issue?) Something else to look in.

From my understanding, If I live in California but register in Wyoming, I'll still be susceptible to california income tax, not california business income tax. Again, correct me if I'm wrong.

As for the last statement, you're definitely right I may be getting a little ahead of myself lol.

Good stuff PatrickP, thanks for your thoughts!