In California there is a "gross receipts tax" based on revenue for an LLC. Do over a million dollars? Pay $6,000 in LLC Fees. Fine for a software co or a law firm not a huge deal. Ecommerce can be a crazy low margin business though and many Stripe customers could get hurt.
http://www.sandiegobusinesslawyerblog.com/2013/05/california...
I think the Delaware corp is a fine idea and a good choice here, but combining that with a Silicon Valley Bank bank account gives me pause ...
California really goes after state tax revenue, and I worry that a corporate entity that has no presence in California, and is not a CA corp has created an opening with a SVB bank account to allow CA FTB right in ... and they are aggressive.
I would feel more comfortable if the bank account was also in Delaware...
Law is a messy business, but they have literally taken the most typical arrangement for startups in US accelerator programs as the first template for Stripe Atlas. I can't imagine a safer set of choices.