All You Need to Know About Incorporation

Target Audience

Students and project membes that are interested in funding a company. For beginners and intermediates. No previous experience required.

Workshop topic

You and your partners are working on a promising business idea and want to take it to the next level by testing the waters of the market? You want to incorporate a legal entity to limit your liability but do not know how to approach this topic and what the requirements are, or how to structure the ownership in the startup and the relationship among you and your partners? You might already be in discussions with potential investors but are unsure what to expect?

These and other questions will all be addressed at our workshop about “*All you need to know about incorporation*”. Based on actual examples from our everyday work experience, we will share insights and discuss best practices and how to avoid pitfalls when incorporating your startup.

Key elements of the workshop

Our workshop will start with initial structuring considerations. We will delve into approaches for offering services, within and outside the scope of company structures. Additionally, we will analyze optimal timing for incorporation and tackle the question: Should we lean towards a 20kCHF investment for a GmbH, or would the 100kCHF option for an AG be more suitable? We will also look at the legal forms and special requirements for non-Swiss/EU/EFTA citizens.

We will then explore the incorporation procedure and further discuss the preparation of shareholders’ agreements as well as first negotiations with investors and potential tax implications.

The session is interactive and everyone is invited to jump into the conversation and raise their questions. After all, our goal is to give a comprehensive introduction to the topic and help founders as much as possible and hopefully provide you with useful advice already.

About the speaker

Alice Vorburger (LinkedIn) and Vangelis Kalaitzidakis (LinkedIn) are dedicated members of Walder Wyss’ start-up desk where they help entrepreneurs and start-ups in all stages to overcome their legal challenges. Alice is a Senior Associate in Walder Wyss AG’s Corporate/M&A practice. She has obtained her Master’s degree from the University of St. Gallen and complemented her education with an LL.M. from the New York University School of Law. Vangelis is an Associate in the firm’s Tax and Private Clients Team and has obtained his Master’s degree from the University of Zurich.