Day 8: Most founders pick Delaware. Most founders are wrong.

Day 8 of building TopStartNow in public.

Here's something I see founders get wrong constantly: state selection.

Ask a non-US founder what state they want for their LLC, and 8 out of 10 say "Delaware." They've heard the name. They know it's "business friendly." They're sure it's the right choice.

For 80% of them, it's not.

Here's the real comparison:

Wyoming:

— $100 filing fee, $60 annual report

— No state corporate income tax

— No franchise tax

— Member names NOT on public record (strongest privacy)

— 1-2 day processing

Delaware:

— $90 filing fee, $300 annual franchise tax

— Court of Chancery (great for lawsuits, irrelevant for e-commerce)

— Member names on public record

— Makes sense if you're raising VC. Only then.

The Delaware myth exists because Silicon Valley lawyers and investors talk about Delaware. That makes complete sense for startups raising money. It makes zero sense for an e-commerce seller in Shenzhen who needs a Stripe account and a bank connection.

The right question isn't "which state is best?" It's "which state is best for what I'm actually doing?"

Selling products on Amazon? Wyoming.

Running a SaaS as a solo founder? Wyoming.

Want the lowest maintenance cost? Wyoming.

Raising a seed round from US investors? Now Delaware makes sense.

I wrote the full state comparison into our cost breakdown guide:

topstartnow.com/guides/llc-registration-cost-breakdown

Curious — did anyone else pick Delaware and later realize Wyoming would've been fine? Or better?