Is there something I’m missing about starting a SaaS?

I keep reading on X and Reddit about people launching SaaS products left and right, often as solo founders or side projects.

I’m starting to get into this world myself and trying to understand how things actually work in practice. What I’m struggling with, though, are the legal and structural hurdles, especially here in Europe.

For example, setting up a company in many European countries already costs several thousand dollars, not to mention the ongoing annual accounting, taxes, and compliance costs. This feels like a pretty big barrier compared to the “just ship and validate” narrative I often read online.

So I’m genuinely curious: is there something I’m missing?
Do most early stage SaaS founders operate without a company at the beginning? Are they using US entities or staying as individuals until they reach some revenue threshold?

I’d love to hear how people actually handle this in the early days, especially founders based in Europe.