Start with a "Einzelunternehmung". Registering that takes 15 to 30 minutes at your local mayors office and costs 30 Euro. From there on you can make something like 20k Euro turnover per year, if you grow out of that, you can still "invest" in a GmbH or whatever suits your needs best.
On the other hand, if you are sure that you're building the next Facebook, getting the money for a GmbH together on day -1 should be no problem at all. It turns out that most companies don't make it that far, though...
Still suboptimal to have to iterate between business types as I grow (compared to other jurisdictions).
This "slow grow" mindset is so typical German. No one know who the next Facebook/Meta will be - but I would guess for some VCs (not all though) it helps to show you're not some random sole trader
That 22k limit is only for the small business rule, which allows the choice of not collecting VAT on sales (but on the flip side cannot deduct it on purchases).
Up to a yearly revenue of 0.6M one can also use a simplified profit calculation method for taxes.
On the other hand, if you are sure that you're building the next Facebook, getting the money for a GmbH together on day -1 should be no problem at all. It turns out that most companies don't make it that far, though...