On: How I Incorporated My Startup

[hrivers]

I don't know much about the rest of the process, but it looks like the name checking part is slightly less convenient in CA: "A free preliminary check of the availability of a name can be requested by mailing a completed Name Availability Inquiry Letter (pdf~62KB) to the California Secretary of State's office in Sacramento. Email or online inquiries cannot be accepted at this time."

http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/be/name-availability.htm#chec...

[davidw → hrivers]

I'm sometimes amazed at just how antiquated California is.

I remember taking the DMV test there, and it was all pencil and paper stuff, and then it took something like a month to get the license.

In Oregon, it was all computer-screen driven, and licenses were issued in very short order.

The business name search is all on-line in Oregon, as is all filing, at least for LLC's. http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.login