FAQ

Is this a legal company?

It's a real organization with legal weight, but it's not a registered company until you incorporate. Forming a venture creates a documented structure — verified members, a written constitution, recorded ownership — which is how courts recognize de facto organizations like general partnerships. What you don't have until you incorporate is a government registration, with the liability shield and tax personhood that come with it. See The incorporation path for the full picture.

What does it cost to start?

Forming a venture is free. You pay when you use paid services — for example, filing fees and service costs when you incorporate, or transaction costs on treasury operations. There's no subscription required to form and run a basic venture.

Do I need a lawyer?

Not to form. The constitutional models are complete, readable agreements designed to be adopted as-is, and most ventures run on them unmodified. You should bring in a lawyer when the stakes justify it: incorporating, taking significant outside investment, or negotiating terms that deviate from the standard models. When you do, your Entity.ID records give them a clean starting point — which usually means fewer billable hours.

What happens when I incorporate?

Your venture's records, members, agreements, and history carry over. The constitution becomes the basis for your operating agreement or bylaws, the ownership splits become the cap table, and the SAFE issuances become your investment records. Your public address stays live and the registration is recorded as part of your venture's continuing history. Details in Incorporating your venture.

Can I use a bank?

Yes, two ways. First, your venture has a treasury from day one — a multi-approval account that can hold and send funds without any bank. Second, for a traditional bank account, banks generally require a registered company, so plan to incorporate when you need one. Your venture's records — constitution, verified members, beneficial ownership — are exactly what the bank will ask for.

Who can see my records?

Your public page shows what a registry shows: the venture exists, its name and type, when it was formed, and that its records verify. Personal information — KYC documents, IDs, selfies, emails — is never published. Operational details like treasury balances follow the account's own visibility (a treasury account's balance is visible to those who know its address, like any shared account of that kind). Rule of thumb: existence is public, identity documents are private.

What if a partner leaves?

Your constitution answers this — that's a large part of why you adopted one. The standard models define how a departing partner's ownership is handled: the process for voluntary exit, what happens to their percentage, and how remaining partners absorb or buy out the stake. The departure is proposed and recorded through governance, so the record always shows who held what, when. If the departure is contested, the dispute resolution terms you chose at formation apply.

Is my data on a public network?

The records are — that's what makes them tamper-proof. Formation, approvals, amendments, and record fingerprints are anchored on a public network so anyone can verify them independently (see How verification works). Your documents and personal data are not: KYC files and uploads stay off the public network, which holds only the cryptographic fingerprints needed to prove records haven't been altered.

Can I form more than one venture?

Yes. Your account can belong to any number of entities — form a venture for the startup, join an association, run a capital pool. All Entities shows everything you belong to. Your identity verification carries across all of them, so you only do KYC once.

Can I change my venture's name or address?

The slug you pick at formation is your permanent address — outside parties rely on it the way they rely on a domain name, so treat it as stable. Your display name and entity details can be updated through governance. If you truly need a different address, form a new venture and record the relationship between the two.