What business structure should I choose for my startup?

Most venture-backed startups incorporate as a Delaware C-Corp for QSBS tax benefits and investor familiarity. Bootstrapped businesses often start as LLCs with optional S-Corp tax election.

What is the best bank for a startup?

Mercury is the default recommendation for most seed-stage startups — no fees, FDIC coverage up to $5M, and strong integrations. Brex is best when you need cards and banking combined. Bluevine works well for service businesses needing credit lines.

How can AI help startup founders?

AI serves as operational infrastructure for small teams: content pipeline automation, outreach personalization, meeting preparation, document synthesis, and financial tracking. It lets a two-person team compete with a twenty-person team.

What security should a new startup have?

Minimum security setup: password manager (1Password or Bitwarden), MFA on every service, YubiKey for email and banking, email aliases for service segmentation, and domain registrar lock.

Chapter 03

Banking

Your business bank account is your financial operating system. The wrong choice creates friction at every step. Open one the day you form your entity.

First principle

Do not commingle personal and business funds under any circumstance. Commingling is the fastest way to lose your liability protection and creates an accounting mess that compounds over time and becomes a serious problem in due diligence.

The three accounts worth knowing

Mercury →

Best for most early-stage startups

No fees. FDIC-insured up to $5M via partner bank sweep networks. Treasury product for idle cash, API access, solid integrations with Stripe and QuickBooks. No minimum balance. The default recommendation for seed-stage companies.

Brex

Best when you need cards + banking combined

Corporate card with high limits, no personal guarantee required. Spend management, receipt capture, expense categories built in. Requires higher balances to unlock full features. Strong when you have employees incurring expenses.

Bluevine

Best for service businesses needing credit

High-yield checking up to 2%+ APY on balances. Business lines of credit available. Good for working capital management in service businesses. Less startup-native than Mercury or Brex but strong on cash flow tools.

Mercury →

The default startup bank for seed-stage founders

Mercury is purpose-built for startups. No monthly fees, no minimum balances, FDIC coverage up to $5M through sweep networks, and a treasury product for idle cash. API access and native integrations with Stripe, QuickBooks, and major payroll providers mean less manual reconciliation. Most Y Combinator and seed-stage companies bank here — and for good reason.

AI prompts

Bank comparison

I am a [pre-seed / seed] startup with [amount] in the bank. I have [number] employees and [number] contractors. I use [tools] for payments and accounting. Compare Mercury, Brex, and Bluevine for my situation: FDIC coverage, card limits, integrations, fees, and ease of opening.