A link to a PETITION where one can register support, might give this some political traction.
I think pg+hn+/. etc could generate 50k signatures.
ideas?
The Founder Visa
21–30 of 160 posts
Re: The Founder Visa
#22One danger is that the accreditation process for recognised investors could be hijacked and used to give special privileges to a small number of firms.
Re: The Founder Visa
#23By definition these 10,000 founders wouldn't be taking jobs from Americans
"But, but, but: their companies will compete with and disrupt established American businesses, destroying American jobs! Why, a 4-foreigner web news or classified startup could put dozens of (unionized, citizen, voter) newspaper employees out of work!"
Of course I don't believe this is true, nor would it even be a good reason to restrict entry if it were true. (Better to have the new disruptive companies here, than elsewhere.) But that's the sort of deranged logic used against broader immigration. The neat trick of limiting the visas to those starting companies will only help a little against anti-immigrant emotions.
They wouldn't all grow as big as Google, but out of 2500 some would come close.
I suspect close-to-Google-scale successes come more like 1-in-100,000-tries than 1-in-2500. There's a tendency to see every startup as a potential little Google -- we could call this 'Google Goggles'. But Google is one-of-a-kind, and it shouldn't require even one success of that scale to make the case for broader immigration.
For example, shouldn't these visas be available to immigrants whose 'startup' is a donut shop, nail salon, or bodega?
(I also suspect such a program could be easily gamed... but as I'd like to see more immigration of anyone ambitious, I suppose that's a feature not a bug.)
Re: The Founder Visa
#24Having been through the hoops, I'd generally support this, but it's a tough sell in today's economy. Because there are emotions involved. There are already similar visas (EB-5 and E-1). Especially the E-1 category is very close and could easily be amended to fit Paul's ideas (I used the E-1 as co-founder of my previous startup, EVE). One issue that needs to be addressed: you are not likely to get funding until you mo…
Care to elaborate on how you got through the hoops? Many (or most) of the people taking advantage of such a visa might be those already in the US on student or work visas.
Here are some details based on my personal experience (I have been under 6 different visa status over the last 15 years).
There is a misconception that an investor visa requires cash investment (in the order of $500K to $1M). That's false. This number comes from the EB-5 green card route. The E visa is a temporary visa, but it is valid 5 years and renewable pretty much as long as you want. There is no minimum cash investment required in the statute.
You do need to convince the US embassy of your home country that you have a good business plan. Actually, to be convincing, it better be more than a plan: early customer interest, letters of intent (LOI), etc. all constitute strong elements to include in your application.
In line with PG's idea, letters from prominent VCs about their interest may work as well.
For about $6,000, you can get a good, proactive immigration lawyer to prepare your case, assuming your business opportunity is real.
Re: The Founder Visa
#25Implementation questions:
Do the investors have to be Americans, or is it enough that the investment is spent in the U.S.?
When the money runs out or the startup fails, are the founders asked to leave?
Re: The Founder Visa
#26Nice idea. Feels like a version of the E-2, brought in line with the new realities of the cost of starting a web based business - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E2_visa (government is always slow). Rather than requiring applicants to bring monetary capital into the country, they'd be required to bring start-up capital , as measured by those who will invest in it.
My E-2 interview (at the US embassy in Singapore) is scheduled at the end of this month.
Cost me more than $6K (in attorney fee, etc) and countless number of hours to prepare all the documents without any guarantee that I'll get it.
It _is_ more scary than applying to YC, now good luck to myself.
Re: The Founder Visa
#27Nice idea. Feels like a version of the E-2, brought in line with the new realities of the cost of starting a web based business - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E2_visa (government is always slow). Rather than requiring applicants to bring monetary capital into the country, they'd be required to bring start-up capital , as measured by those who will invest in it.
The problem with both the E1 and E2 is also the list of 'treaty nations' you need to be a member of. For example, India is not on the list
Re: The Founder Visa
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Care to elaborate on how you got through the hoops? Many (or most) of the people taking advantage of such a visa might be those already in the US on student or work visas.
Here are some details based on my personal experience (I have been under 6 different visa status over the last 15 years). There is a misconception that an investor visa requires cash investment (in the order of $500K to $1M). That's false. This number comes from the EB-5 green card route. The E visa is a temporary visa, but it is valid 5 years and renewable pretty much as long as you want. There is no minimum cash in…
Unfortunately, this doesn't work for non-treaty countries. India is one of them
Re: The Founder Visa
#29I'm just happy to see the karma going where it belongs. I "found" these essays three days before my first trip to Bombay, and read all of them on the 14 hour nonstop. I showed up only slightly tired from the travel, but extremely optimistic on the world, the future, and myself. And that made a difference in convincing my now in-laws that I was a worthy son-in-law, deserving of their daughter, the most wonderful woman I know.
Thanks, Paul, for another excellent essay.
Re: The Founder Visa
#30Anyone who missed it should check out the etherpad link: http://etherpad.com/ep/pad/slider/foundervisa Very cool.
Is that still a feature made available only to PG?