[pinksoda]

It sounds like you haven't even talked to investors yet. You don't need a corporation to create a TOS, nor do you need a corporation to accept payments.

Cross those bridges when you get there. I don't see this leverage you keep referring to. They restructure businesses all the time. Having the right incorporation doesn't make your startup/idea/business any better, so why don't you focus on improving those things?

[nathansobo]

I interpret your comments as coming from a concern that I'm putting the cart before the horse in worrying about such details too far in advance of a product. I assure you that I'm not a douchebag with an idea that's setting up a company around nothing. I have a minimal viable product and what I'm learning is that customers want to see that I'm charging for the service and that there's a TOS that protects their data. That's the only reason I'm worried about incorporating at the moment. I guarantee you I'd rather ignore it, but I don't have confidence that I can. Maybe you can help me gain that confidence.

In setting up a terms of service without a corporation, who do I structure the agreement with? In examples I've seen, it's with a corporate entity, like 37signals, LLC in the case of Basecamp. It seems strange to make it an agreement with me personally, and potentially legally unwise. As far as accepting payments, those can presumably go directly to me, but again doesn't it make more sense to vector them to an independent entity? But maybe my thinking is wrong about this. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[nolite]

You should speak to a real accountant obviously.. but I've heard that its entirely possible to be take on personal liability even if you run an LLC. Again, I'm no expert so talk to an accountant, but I've heard something along the lines of LLC's being run by a single member offering no real liability protection. Many accountants seem to recommend S-Corps, but yeah, if you want to have investors you'll need a C-Corp.

As for separating your business operations from your personal ones, that seems like a responsible thing to do.. so definitely do that.. but speak to a real accountant first