Have an LLC

The piece argues that in an era where useful software can be built in hours, not months, having an LLC ready removes a common and unnecessary blocker between idea and launch. It opens with a personal anecdote: a tiny tool to merge calendars was coded in about four hours, but launch was delayed a week waiting for EIN and legal setup to accept payments and separate finances. That gap feels particularly painful now that rapid iteration makes the incorporation step one of the slowest parts of shipping something people can pay for.

Practical advice follows: form an LLC ahead of time so you can move instantly when an idea sticks. An LLC lets you separate personal and business finances, open bank accounts, accept payments, and gain basic liability shielding; it can also be used for short-term contracting. Services like Stripe Atlas and many other incorporators make this straightforward. Costs are modest - roughly $500/year in most places, with California adding an $800 franchise tax - and the flexibility pays off by letting you experiment and monetize quickly. A real-world example: a major company began as a differently named LLC before re-incorporating once its primary product succeeded.