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YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#641

Post by doublerebel »

dusing wrote: post #165
OoTheNigerian wrote: post #116

Great intent. I'd like to know the reasoning behind choosing Canada as an alternative interview location because from experience, it easier to get a US visitor visa than that of Canada. Nigerians cannot even transit the Canadian airport without a visa which takes upward of 8 weeks to get AFTER approval vs days for the US. Requirements for Canada are more onerous. 2 suggestions. 1. A country of interview per continent…

I also know several US citizens that have been denied entry into Canada because of a DUI in the United States. AFAIK It's not a hard fast rule, and you won't find out until you get there. Canada doesn't exactly have an open border.

Yes this has been a problem for several people I know. There is an arduous apology form process one can go through but most people just give up because it is so embarrassing. I've had more complications at the US-Canada border crossing than at any other crossing I've ever taken.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#642

Post by andkon »

jonny_eh wrote: post #636

Why not Toronto? It has a much more vibrant tech scene.

I wondered the same thing. If they launched another location for YC, I would hope they wouldn't just do it because it's in the same timezone, because dang would Toronto be way better.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#643

Post by NathanCH »

acchow wrote: post #580
mck- wrote: post #576

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weather here is amazing! Vancouver has such a bad rep when it comes to rain, but honestly it's not that bad. Here's what it's really like: Between May and October, basically half of the year, you'll have very comfortable T-shirt weather, and blue skies I'd say 70% of the time! Between December and March it's gloomy, but you'll have awesome snow in the mountains, just 30 min from downtown :) from our office we can see…

Ski in the morning and play beach volleyball in the afternoon? What month of the year? Whistler-blackcomb tops out at only 8000ft. Vancouver gets 1900 hours of sunlight a year. That's not a lot. Compare to Seattle (which is considered gloomy) at 2170 hours and SF at 3000 hours.

Sunshine hours has more to do with the fact that the sun sets here at 4:00pm in the winter. More often than not it's sunny or cloudy with sunny breaks.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#644

Post by sanguine234 »

mcphage wrote: post #404
pizzetta wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting you bring up warmongering when it looks like some in the opposition party are concerned about the US receding from interventionism and seeking more effort from the other NATO countries. That the US is becoming more isolationist --which would seem to contradict the US becoming more interventionist.

> That the US is becoming more isolationist --which would seem to contradict the US becoming more interventionist. Trump wants to beef up our military spending—what do you think he's going to do with all that extra hardware?

It is called, peace through strength. When you have strong military, others do not try to pull punches on you. And when you intervene for others, they also listen to you. That is how US has been, always.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#645

Post by wfo »

ythn wrote: post #634
wfo wrote: post #515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't find them unfruitful. I find them quite fruitful and enjoy and learn from political discussions with others. The problem with them is that they are not scientific or technical questions, and this forum is populated by a lot of people who naturally tend to look at things from a science perspective -- that there is a correct answer, and we just need to arrive at it. A discussion is only 'fruitful' if it gets us…

> And your quote isn't even so horrible. Pointing out problems with a particular point of view if new can be enormously insightful and helpful. From what I see it just becomes a back and forth though that reaches no consensus. "UBI will solve all of our problems" "The problem with UBI is X" "The problem with X is Y, so X isn't really a problem with UBI" "The problem with Y is Z, so Y is not a problem and X is a probl…

Consensus isn't a reasonable goal or even desirable when you're discussing things which are more complex than, say, cut and dried technical facts. I can achieve consensus among mathematicians by providing a proof. I can achieve consensus among scientists by performing repeated experiments. I can achieve consensus among philosophers by, well, killing all the other philosophers. But if I don't do that, I can learn a lot and better develop my own positions and thoughts by having discussions with them even if I'll never force them to agree with me.

You don't have to particularly care for 'soft' discussion and reasoning, but that's not a problem with it, it's a personal preference of yours which is extremely uncommon among the general population, however over represented it is on HN. Every discussion about anything nontechnical has this 'soft' property.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#646

Post by gamache »

This is a positive thing for YC. Great.

I mean, YC's still onboard with Peter Thiel: YC Partner, one of Trump's most significant individual donors, and founder of Palantir, the analytics services company that's powering the Trump administration's purge of immigrants (http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/07/peter-thiel-palantir-trump-im...).

But good for YC. Helping several foreign entrepreneurs break into the Valley scene. Moving the needle.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#647

Post by brianwawok »

samfisher83 wrote: post #601
acchow wrote: post #537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How will Vancouver improve its weather? California has a powerful draw...

SF weather isn't that great. It cold and foggy. Socal has much better weather, but it isn't silicon valley.

I laugh at your cold weather and point to Chicago

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#648

Post by vinay427 »

discombobulate wrote: post #153
chuhnk wrote: post #19

What if it's because I oppose the muslim ban and refuse to enter the US? That's a serious question. Actually I feel like the response to that will be, "It's your choice" but hey solidarity man!

Have all Muslims been banned from the US? I thought it was only a set of countries draw up by Obama. Edit: Words are hard! Edit2: Yes, downvote me & upvote the hyperbole. Welcome to the post-fact world. All Muslims are banned. Trump is Hitler. The stock market's going to crash. Anyone right of Obama is racist scum who should lose their job. Etc.

I'm still trying to work out why many are so emphatic about the list being drawn up by Obama. It's not as if Trump signed a list without carefully reviewing and collecting evidence on the countries whose citizens' lives he would be directly affecting. I hope that wasn't the case, anyway...

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#649

Post by acchow »

NathanCH wrote: post #643
acchow wrote: post #580

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ski in the morning and play beach volleyball in the afternoon? What month of the year? Whistler-blackcomb tops out at only 8000ft. Vancouver gets 1900 hours of sunlight a year. That's not a lot. Compare to Seattle (which is considered gloomy) at 2170 hours and SF at 3000 hours.

Sunshine hours has more to do with the fact that the sun sets here at 4:00pm in the winter. More often than not it's sunny or cloudy with sunny breaks.

I'm 95% sure that's not how the earth's orbit works.

Sure, further from the equator makes your days shorter in the winter, but they're longer during the summer. It's awash.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#650

Post by robotresearcher »

acchow wrote: post #537
curiousfiddler wrote: post #448

If you don't provide opportunity and a good civil environment to brilliant/enterprising people, they will find a way elsewhere. And once Vancouver or any other city starts working for them, Silicon Valley will lose its exclusivity. The thing to note here is that this response from YC is not a political one, but a response that came out of market demand; it is pretty significant if it works out.

How will Vancouver improve its weather? California has a powerful draw...

Snow sports are the answer to Vancouver winter gloom. I smile through the rain because I know it's snowing at Whistler. Enjoyed that snow today.
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