Ask HN: I feel my dream slipping away

I've gone through and read all the comments below, and am pretty overwhelmed by the hopes, the energy, and the tenacity of so many of you. I am a 35 year old first time entrepreneur, but I'm a citizen, so I can relate to some of the pressure - but only a tiny bit. But that's not what I wanted to comment on - I wanted to comment on the fact that I am blown away by those of you making a go of this...you make this country great even when it makes it hard for you. We are lucky to have you.

I really appreciate the advice, kind words, encouragement, and wisdom you guys have offered here, edw519, thaumaturgy, gridspy, patio11, adityakothadiya, rgrieselhuber and others.

Patience is a virtue and I've been practising it for a few years now. My green card petition has been pending for 5 years and it still seems far away. Given the immigration climate and the general xenophobia, I dread waiting another few years (2 is my optimistic guess if immigration reform goes through, else...). I sometimes put myself on the other side of the fence and wonder that if things don't pan out, will I regret not taking the leap? It's hard sometimes, you know.

I don't want to take any hasty decisions and screw everything up. But as adityakothadiya pointed out, I do want to know that I've exhausted all possible options and have no other resort.

I need to get more efficient and as thaumaturgy pointed out, get help. I am planning on bringing in some help over the summer. I'm also considering taking a leave of absence from the job if possible.

Entrepreneurship is difficult (euphemism) in and of itself. Add first time founder, solo founder, part-time work, and green card bull and in those moments of weakness, I despair. And as Unseelie pointed out, when you're one person doing something, even a five person unfunded team can seem scary.

That being said, overall, I'm optimistic and will continue to do what I'm doing. I'm still living some form of my dream and it is exciting to watch this baby grow.

No one wants to live with regrets but often you don't know in advance what you will or will not end up regretting. I'm figuring it out.

If I don't do a good job at building my startup, or finding product/market fit and so on, I can live with it not going anywhere. But if I end up realizing (a little too late) that dedicating myself to it would have made a difference, that's a bitter pill to swallow.

It gets tricky because I'm in my second H-1B term. The H-1B has a maximum term of 6 yrs after which you need to go back for an year, unless you have a perm residency petition pending.

From what he says about USCIS picking on little details, I think setting up my own company and sponsoring an H-1B without revenues will be subject to audit for sure and could jeopardize my green card petition.

I'm going to talk to an immigration lawyer but from my past conversation or two, they say this is very hard to do without raising major flags.

I've been a reader of your blog for some time now and I am amazed at how you pull it off.

Between writing code, thinking about the big picture, product features, promoting it, marketing, I'm overwhelmed most of the time. I have been looking for help now but still learning my way through hiring.

The 20-somethings media-fueled success stories that we hear all around us add undue pressure. In a subtle way, they make you feel like a loser if you haven't made it by 30, which is BS. I make a conscious effort to not be affected by the hype.

All I'd like is to give it my best effort, learn a lot in the process, and hopefully create a nice little place for myself.

And it can't be summoned forth at will for the purpose of solving immigration issues.