I have founded multiple companies in Germany and in the US. Sure, in the US you have services like Stripe Atlas that make it a bit easier. But still, I would not say it's much crazier registering a company in Germany compared to the US.
Of course, it helps if you have a bit of an idea of legal concepts and accounting, but to be honest, that also makes sense, since you are starting a business.
This is not to say that we should not work to make it less bureaucratic in Germany (and other countries).
I agree that applying to loan and grant programs within Germany, and especially EU, are a super pain in the ass. I definitely see some potential there.
You can create a full blow corporation in Delaware from Europe in an easier way that you can open here.
Anyway, the benefits go beyond how easy it is to open, the most important things are moving forward with things like stock options, issuing shares, creating preferred ones, etc, etc, taxes access to funding, etc..
You’d just be moving the complexity around if you did that. If you’re residing and working in Europe then having your company in the US will cause all kinds of tax and logistical issues that you’re probably not qualified to deal with. Probably much less so than dealing with the local paperwork. Everything your company does will now be scrutinized and has to fit through two separate tax and legal systems. Nothing simple about it
I have multiple friends that incorporated their companies in US from Europe.
It isn't a particularly worse arrangement with founders, and, again corporate law in Europe is really behind, making things like attracting talent for equity much more difficult.
You still need to deal with business registration, taxes, accounting and so on.
You can also create a GmbH in Germany by downloading a few free templates from the internet and making an appointment with a notary. It's a bit more expensive than creating an LLC, but not significantly (maybe a few hundred dollars).
Especially since most of the cost come from running the business (tax filings, accountings, business registrations) and not the initial founding costs.
The context is creating companies in another country.
The states hasn't yet devolved into separate countries (I'm not sure what advantages California gets from the union. But a Brexit is clearly a costly move).
Of course, it helps if you have a bit of an idea of legal concepts and accounting, but to be honest, that also makes sense, since you are starting a business.
This is not to say that we should not work to make it less bureaucratic in Germany (and other countries).
I agree that applying to loan and grant programs within Germany, and especially EU, are a super pain in the ass. I definitely see some potential there.