IANAL but you are correct about membership in an LLC--it does have tax implications, but only once you are generating revenue. This is also true of an S-corp. The typical approach to dealing with members/partners in these sutuations is to do cash distributions to cover taxes. We did this in our company for years until we were acquired.
You need to talk with a lawyer and an accountant about your situation. Organizing as LLC, S-corp or C-corp has subtleties that you need to consider beyond taxes.
Cheers!