Leap of Faith

Following a relatively moderate success at the Duke start-up challenge 2007, I have now decided to take the start-up idea head on. My absence from this blog may, therefore, be considered as deep breath before the plunge.

Together with my advisor, Dr. Ehsan Samei, I have now founded a company: AcuMage, LLC. The company is presently based on an x-ray multi-view stereoscopic imaging system that can provide a complete 3D view of an object (or anatomy) . But lets not focus on that. This post was meant to log my trials and tribulations with the bureaucracy of establishing a business in a country largely touted to be "entrepreneurial-friendly". By logging my experience, I am trying keep a record for myself, and at the same time, also hope to provide directions to a budding entrepreneur looking for tips on the internet.

1) The first step is to of course finalize a name for the company. After dabbling with 3S (acronym for 3D Stereoscopic Screening Systems), Advanced Imaging, and later AcuteMage, we iterated to AcuMage. The next step is to decide if its going to be an LLC or Inc. This decision is simple since an LLC provides tax benefits that Inc. does not. But if VC funding is sought, the business has to an Inc. However, an LLC can later be changed to Inc. without much ado.

2) At this point, the owners and their percentages need to be decided. It is required that at least 51% of the company be owned by a US citizen. Since I am an Indian citizen, I own 49% of the company. I am not sure about the implication of this ownership but I understand that this matters when we are trying to take an exit from the business.

3) Contact a lawyer and have him register the name with the secretary of state. This is a surprisingly easy task, but may get expensive if the company has to be founded in a rush (as was in our case).

$150 to the state, $125 to the lawyer, having your own company: priceless!