Ask HN: Startup Equity to Iranian National and Delaware Inc

Posted by daves_startup on Saturday November 30, 2019 @09:30AM
from the ask-hn dept.

Hello, need a hand here. We are a small tech start up and have a team of 6 from all over the world. One of our team is an Iranian national, based in UK on a work visa. We are all working for equity right now and the company is based in UK today.

We are considering registering our company in Delaware and it looks like US sanctions might give us a challenge.

Does anyone have any experience or advice in this area / lawyers to recommend etc?

Thanks Dave

( 7 comments | 11 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Startup Equity to Iranian National and Delaware Inc by JCoder58 on Saturday November 30, 2019 @03:37PM (#21672018)

The US Embassy in London has a list of UK lawyers who have experience with US Law:

https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/attorney/

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Startup Equity to Iranian National and Delaware Inc by daves_startup on Saturday November 30, 2019 @05:32PM (#21672511)

Thank you!!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Startup Equity to Iranian National and Delaware Inc by brudgers on Saturday November 30, 2019 @07:29PM (#21672981)

I’m not a lawyer. Issues with Iran aside. A Delaware C corporation may need to pay its employees actual wages. Not equity. Not complying with labor laws is a known method for creating legal problems later if the company becomes successful. Business practices that might work for proprietorships, partnerships, and LLC’s don’t scale out to C corps. Good luck.

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Re:Ask HN: Startup Equity to Iranian National and Delaware Inc by daves_startup on Sunday December 01, 2019 @04:18PM (#21677842)

Thanks!!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Startup Equity to Iranian National and Delaware Inc by keepspeechfree on Saturday November 30, 2019 @10:10PM (#21673575)

yes definitely consult a lawyer, it might introduce complications working with US companies.

There might be other ways you can structure his compensation that would be better for the company, maybe as a profit share and a bonus if the company sells that matches up to what would be his % ownership.

But it's the right move to find an attorney with experience.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Startup Equity to Iranian National and Delaware Inc by tomklein on Saturday November 30, 2019 @02:28PM (#21671713)

Maybe you could ask at a US embassy if you don’t find answers?

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Re:Ask HN: Startup Equity to Iranian National and Delaware Inc by daves_startup on Saturday November 30, 2019 @05:32PM (#21672514)

Thank you!!

[ Parent | on HN ]