RSS
Twitter
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.
