Supporting A Movement Towards A Founder's Visa
from the this-would-be-good dept
Back in April, we wrote about Paul Graham's excellent idea to create a special startup founder's visa to help allow the founders of startups the ability to come to the US and build their companies here. This is important as studies have shown how skilled foreign entrepreneurs have been vital in building up our tech industry and creating new jobs. A recent study showed that 25% of all tech startups in the US and over 50% of those in Silicon Valley are founded by immigrants. There's simply no reason not to help more immigrants start companies in the US, but our current immigration setup is a mess, and it's quite difficult. I've seen companies fail (and, even was working closely with one many years ago) when a founder had to leave the country due to visa issues. However, after Paul Graham's suggestion, not much has been mentioned.However, VC Brad Feld says that he's heard from a Congressional Rep who's actually interested in the idea, and he's trying to build up more support behind the idea -- and he's looking for feedback on the concept itself and how to make it a reality. I can't think of a single good reason for us not to encourage more skilled immigration -- especially if it's for the purpose of starting a company. Hopefully, this actually gets some traction.
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Filed Under: founders, immigration, visa
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If they regulate VCs...
What is needed is more and easier visas for engineering/business talent and students, not less. And certainly no regulation of VCs. Because, right now, there are lot of people who came to the US to make a career in tech that are leaving and a growing number of Americans are following them.
Chris.
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Re: If they regulate VCs...
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In the US you have to pay for it yourself, work for a company that has a plan, or find somebody to marry so you can work around the system with their job's healthcare.
From where I sit the US of A looks like a dangerous place to start a business. Doesn't matter if you're a citizen or not. There are quite a lot of people who absolutely cannot quit their job to follow their dreams and start something. Not while they live here.
And this says nothing about the pre-existing condition madness that will get you denied care regardless of how you're insured.
But you know what's really attractive? Forming a start-up in a country with sane healthcare.
We have much bigger problems that serve to discourage a lot of people from wanting to be here. I'm disappointed that this is what people are focusing on.
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But anyway, about all the other compensating upsides...
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Re:
Most VC-funded startup CEOs and other executives I know (and I've worked with around 70 startups) make well over $150k/year and often over $200k/year.
Paying for health insurance is not an issue.
On the other hand, sending $10-$20 million per startup somewhere else should be considered a huge issue. That's our money (yes, it's your money too, from large US institutional investors) going to places like China and India. I know one VC here in Silicon Valley who works at a firm with close to $3 billion under management that has been doing 7-10 China deals in the last 18 months.
That's money that's not being spent here, and that is a real problem. Unlike, say, your healthcare red herring.
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No worries
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