I Registered a US Company Without Speaking English — AI Walked Me Through It

Can you build a cross-border business if your English is terrible? I did. I registered a US company end to end — no agency, no middleman — with AI guiding me through every step.

We’re going global. The foundation models are theirs, but when it comes to building applications and refining products, Chinese product people know exactly what they’re doing. Using their AI infrastructure to build our own products and sell them back at the application and product layer — the path is there. But going overseas starts with having a foreign business entity. Payments and everything downstream hang on it. Without one, nothing moves.

There’s no shortage of guides online. The process looks clear, the forms are all findable. But once you actually start, you realize the forms aren’t what stop you — it’s everything that comes after. All in English, nothing you’ve ever done before, and the moment you see it, you freeze. Most people aren’t incapable. They just don’t dare start. I was the same, but I decided to do it myself.

The first wall was making an English phone call to a US government office. Most people hire an agent the moment they hit this step. What I did was have AI draft every question I might be asked along with the English answers, compile them into a webpage, and convert them to audio so I could rehearse beforehand. I made the call myself, but everything I needed to say was prepped before I picked up the phone.

The second wall was receiving mail. The government approval letter is physical — only ships to US addresses, and I’m based in China. AI helped me find the solution: set up a registered agent with a US address, and when the letter arrives, it gets scanned and forwarded electronically. I saw it the same day. The third wall was almost absurd — in 2026, applying for a tax ID still requires sending a fax. Which number to fax to, what return number to list, how to format the cover sheet — AI walked me through every detail. I waited about two weeks, and the number came through.

After registration, cross-border payments were another hurdle. The Stripe application was entirely in English, and the review process kept coming back with follow-up questions — another pile of things I’d never seen before. AI got me through that too. The way I use AI is different from most people. I don’t ask it for a guide and follow along. Every time I get stuck, I screenshot my screen and show it directly. It tells me what to click next, what to fill in. When I hit an English page I can’t read, I send the screenshot over, and it immediately tells me what it says and how I should respond. I treat it as a consultant sitting right next to me, not a search bar.

The company still costs a few thousand dollars a year — state taxes, annual filings, registered agent fees. Those are non-negotiable. But the agency service fee? I didn’t spend a cent, and I didn’t have to wait for anyone’s schedule. It really isn’t that hard — when your back is against the wall, you figure it out. AI doesn’t step in for you. I made the call myself, I signed every document myself. But all the preparation before stepping up — it handled that. English isn’t the barrier. Never having done it before is the barrier. Things you used to pay others to handle because you’d never done them — now you do it yourself, and AI walks you through the first time.

Source: EP0096 (2026-09-13, 02:29) · on-screen presenter is an AI avatar · voice is a cloned-voice TTS of the host · the text here is not an ASR transcription — it is the spoken script itself (written first, then synthesised into voice and video); timecodes come from the subtitle segmentation of the finished cut

[00:00] Can you do cross-border business with bad English? Yes I registered a US company without an incorporation agent from start to finish It was all AI walking me through it step by step We are going global to earn foreigners’ money The base models are theirs but how to build apps and polish products us Chinese product people it is second nature to us Use their AI to earn their money At the application and product layer we definitely have an edge But to go global your first step is getting an overseas company entity Otherwise nothing else can move forward

[00:25] So I went and did it There are tons of online guides with very clear processes and you can find the forms But when you actually do it you will realize what stops you is not the form at all It is the handful of steps after the form that are all in English and you have never done them before so you just chicken out You have probably all faced this It is not that you cannot do it but you are afraid to start Let me tell you how I got through it The first bottleneck calling a US government department to make an English phone call

[00:49] When others reach this step they get an incorporation agent to call for them I had CC build a web page for me with every question I might be asked during this call and all the English answers drafted out and turned it into audio I listened to it beforehand and just read from it I made the call myself but what to say before calling it prepared everything for me The second bottleneck was receiving mail The government approval letter is on paper and only mailed to a US address I’m in China so this letter couldn’t reach me It helped me solve this too by getting a registered agent for an address

[01:14] When mail arrives it’s auto-scanned so I can see it immediately in China The third one you might not expect It’s 2026 and applying for a tax number still requires a fax A fax! Which number to send it to whose return number to use and how to format it it walked me through all of it step by step I waited for about half a month and the number came through Besides registering the company cross-border payments are another hurdle When applying for Stripe it’s also an all-English form and they ask review questions back and forth

[01:40] It helped me get this done step by step too The way I use it isn’t asking it for a guide It’s taking it step by step and when I get stuck I just show it my screen directly It tells me where to click and what to fill next When I hit an English page I don’t understand I send it a screenshot It immediately tells me what the text says and how I should reply I just treat it like a consultant sitting right next to me not like a search box The company’s fixed annual costs are still a few thousand dollars, that’s state taxes, annual filing registered agent, you pay every cent you owe

[02:05] But that service fee for the incorporation agent I didn’t spend a single cent And no waiting for their queue It’s actually not that hard Push comes to shove, you’ll do it too AI doesn’t appear on your behalf I made the phone call myself I signed the papers myself But the preparation before showing up it does it all for you English is not the barrier never having done it before is the barrier Things you’ve never done before you could only pay someone else to do Now you do it yourself AI walks you through it the first time So that’s it for today See you tomorrow, bye bye