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  • New Startup - Legalities

Hi guys,

As the title suggests.. I would like to inquire about startup legalities/launch. If have you experience, or done that before and thought about launching a new startup for building apps.. what are the legal issues you should consider first?

- Register a company? (I'm Lebanese, but I've no clue whether I should register my company in Lebanon? or maybe Wales? or any other country? I don't know the repercussions for each), or do I even need to register a company?

- Type of company. Suppose you're making an app to the global market.. something all the world can profit from. Can you be a Lebanese company doing that? Are there any restrictions on you as Lebanese against targeting global users?

- Patent your startup idea if possible? (If you have a successful idea, how to stop others from committing fraud, basically stealing your idea and implement a copy in parallel once you launch). Being a Lebanese, do you have any sort of cover or support from any Lebanese entity against any sort of theft etc?

- Hire an attorney? What for? What type? Where to find?

Basically, if you have information about any of the above, please discuss and share your experience, challenges, etc.
I know someone who started a starup in Lebanon. It did not seem that registering the company here was great, as it took him months. But then he did it. His company did not succeed as hoped. He went on to work for Google for a while, then returned to Lebanon to start another company, this time with more success i hear.
PM me if you want maybe I can put you in touch.
7 days later
There are a lot of support systems that can help you understand more the registration and legal framework in Lebanon. Try the signposting service on uklebhub.com their service is for free, and they can answer you on related to a tech startup environment.
Well, awesome to know that you are considering a startup. Wish you all the luck.

I don't have a link or wiki that details all the steps for you. I think there should be one. If we search around and don't find such a resource, we can always set it up as techies and make sure to curate our collective knowledge there. It will be useful to many.

However I can think of a few "programs" or people helping start-ups now in Lebanon and they could be of help to you.

For example I know that http://www.altcity.me/ has http://www.bootcamp-lb.com/ - it might be interesting if you enroll in one of their upcoming bootcamps and they help you think through a lot of things, provide you some space, mentorship.

I know there is Bader, Berytech, Wamda, UK Lebanon Tech Hub , Arabnet, BDL Accelerate, Beirut Digital District, TechWadi and a few others. I know this is just a list of keywords, but it might be helpful if you google them around and see if anyone doing anything helpful to you.

I can recommend someone to talk to via DM (he can help you with the financial planning and strategy side) - also, let me know if you want to talk to techies who already did their tech startups. I also have a few names in mind.

I am asking for you to DM me, so we can exchange emails and real names (even tho I think I know you) - it used to be cool to introduce people by their nicknames, like hey this automata... but I think now it scares people ;p

Again, good luck figuring this out!
- You do need to register your company within a month of activity or it will be considered illegal. You have to go the "registre du commerce" of your governorate (mouhafaza). Different country have different regulations (the most important being the tax systems, Scandinavia rules).

- You can be a Lebanese company and serve globally. The status of the company (Limited Liability Corp., Corp., Partnership, Sole Trader, Limited Liability Partnership...) depends on your capital, number of partners and your liability.

- Officially you patent your idea in the ministry of economy and if someone steals your idea, you sue him. Not sure how effective it is in Lebanon.

- You will need a lawyer to handle all the legal aspects of the business.