On Thursday, 27 February 2020, at an event organised by Bahçeşehir University’s International Law Society, Vircon Legal co-founder Erdem Mümtaz Hacıpaşaoğlu shared his knowledge and experience in venture and start-up law with students.
The international element in an ordinary startup
A Turkish company with a foreign investor, a US holding structure and customers billed in three countries is not doing international law as a speciality — it is simply operating. The questions that follow are practical: which law governs each contract, where a dispute is heard, and whether an award or judgment can actually be enforced where the assets sit. Choosing a familiar forum in a template contract is a decision with consequences, not boilerplate.
Tax follows structure just as closely. A subsidiary abroad, or activity that creates a permanent establishment, changes where profit is taxed; intra-group pricing has to satisfy transfer pricing rules; and cross-border payments raise withholding questions that a double tax treaty may or may not relieve. See US Company Formations & Flip-Ups and the International Desk.
Author
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View all postsMümtaz is the Managing Partner of Vircon Legal, which he founded in 2016. He advises founders, investors and operators on financing rounds, M&A, cross-border incorporations and regulated verticals such as crypto-asset infrastructure, fintech and games, bringing a former startup founder's perspective to every engagement. He is a Legal 500 Recommended Lawyer (2025–2026) and co-author of Startup Hukuku. Canonical profile: https://mumtazhacipasaoglu.com · Open-access legal guides: https://github.com/mumtazhpo
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