Startup Tax Essentials: Navigating Entity Classification and Equity Compensation

Mital Makadia | Grellas Shah LLP

Mital is a partner of Grellas Shah. Her practice is focused on representing technology startups and startup founders. She provides counsel on a variety of corporate and transactional matters and negotiates and structures equity financings, M&A transactions, and commercial and intellectual property transactions for her clients.

Mital worked at several large law firms including Hogan & Hartson LLP in Washington, D.C. and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, LLP in New York, where she represented both public and private companies in a broad-based transactional practice encompassing mergers and acquisitions, securities transactions, corporate governance, and company formation.

Mital also served as a Law Fellow, U.S. Legal Discourse, at the Georgetown University Law Center, served on the Georgetown Journal of International Law, and served as editor-in-chief of the Carolina Academic Journal.

David Siegel | Grellas Shah LLP

David is an unusual startup lawyer in having done sophisticated legal work in both transactional and litigation matters: he is an accomplished startup lawyer and litigator who has extensive experience in handling a broad range of corporate, transactional, and intellectual property matters, including work on multi-million dollar financings and acquisitions, all in addition to having a deep expertise in handling complex intellectual property, corporate, and commercial litigation matters.

David worked for five years at the nationally recognized firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, initially out of its New York office and subsequently out of Palo Alto. He has a keen interest in working with startups and has worked closely with early-stage companies while expanding his expertise in the startup field.

David is licensed to practice in California and New York. He has extensive experience in both state and federal courts and has done in-depth work connected with SEC investigations, including managing a team of 30 lawyers defending a client in a particularly intensive investigation.

Katherine Hart | Grellas Shah LLP

Katherine Hart is a transactional associate with Grellas Shah. Katherine advises clients on a range of transactional matters, including corporate governance, equity financing, and M&A transactions. She focuses her practice on advising tech startups, from early-stage bootstrapped ventures to venture-backed companies.

Katherine moved back to her hometown of Boston in 2019, and joined a Vault Law 100 firm in Boston, before returning to Grellas Shah in 2021.

Ms. Hart received her JD from The University of Michigan Law School. While at Michigan, she participated in an interdisciplinary problem-solving initiative, speaking at the capstone presentation on connected vehicles. Ms. Hart was also the treasurer of the Business Law Association and a board member of the Student Funded Fellowship, which funds scholarships for public interest law students. Prior to law school Ms. Hart graduated from American University’s Honors program and received her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Philosophy and Law & Society.

Outside of work Katherine loves reading, rowing, sailing, skiing, and SCUBA diving.

I. Startup Structuring | 2:00pm – 2:30pm

• Common startup structures: C-corporations, S-corporations, partnerships, and LLCs
• Key factors influencing the decision: Growth stage, funding needs, investor expectations, and long-term goals

II. Tax Implications of Entity Classification | 2:30pm – 3:00pm

• C-corporations
• S-corporations and partnerships
• LLCs

Break | 3:00pm – 3:10pm

III. Equity Compensation Options and Their Tax Consequences | 3:10pm – 3:40pm

• Common equity compensation types
• Detailed tax implications

IV. Structuring Equity Compensation to Align with Company Goals | 3:40pm – 4:10pm

• How to select the right equity compensation tool for your startup
• Tax consideration when managing equity compensation