

The US Startup Visa: A boon for dismayed, frustrated British entrepreneurs - micrypt
http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/2010/03/the_us_startup_visa_a_boon_for_dismayed_frustrated_british_entrepreneurs.html

======
axod
>> "This is a critical reason why most tech startups in the UK go absolutely
nowhere. You can’t legislate against it. It’s built straight into the
culture."

[Citation needed]

This piece is fairly short on evidence+numbers, and overloaded with sweeping
generalizations.

>> " If you’re starting a new tech business, the only place — the ONLY place —
you should be is Silicon Valley."

If you need to schmooze VC/need to work for a big company for a while so you
can schmooze their M&A department/etc, then probably Silicon Valley is the
best bet.

But if you just want to build a tech company that makes money, it doesn't much
matter where you are.

>> "That is a traffic warden putting a parking ticket on the Bugatti. That is
also a crowd cheering on the traffic warden. Why? Well it’s because each of
the people watching will never, ever, ever have the capacity to even think
about buying an £800,000 Bugatti. They know it. They know their place. Why
should someone else be allowed to be successful enough to blow almost a
million quid on a car? Yeah. Fluck’em! Rich B’stards!"

They're cheering because the car is probably in the way.

Jeez what a stupid 'article'. The author just comes across as someone who has
failed and is blaming it all squarely on the 'culture' rather than any fault
of his own.

And FWIW, flying out for a couple of days every 3 months is hardly a big deal.
If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing.

(Caveat): I don't really care about 'the scene'. I just sit in my office, do
my own thing. I don't really need a 'tech scene', I've got one online :/

~~~
petercooper
_They're cheering because the car is probably in the way._

In the UK, ~30-50 people do not get into a crowd and "cheer" a traffic warden
doing their job unless the car belongs to someone they hate a lot more than
traffic wardens.. and traffic wardens are vilified in the UK to ridiculous
levels (there was a recent documentary about this -
<http://youtu.be/4TxxiXZHXD0>).

 _If the US had universal healthcare I think it'd be more appealing._

Annual travel insurance is so cheap in the UK - even that covering the US -
that using the US healthcare system isn't really an issue to most travellers.

~~~
axod
Yeah maybe the traffic ticket is more about class differences.

One cultural difference is that in the UK, a lot of sitcoms are about
lower/middle class people. In the US many sitcoms seem to be about insanely
rich people. So perhaps that comes into play.

But in any event, the result would have been similar anywhere where supercars
are a rarity.

    
    
      * Crowd gather to see supercar
      * Parking attendent give car a ticket
      * Crowd cheer/laugh/etc because it's something you don't see often.
    

Also there's probably a large element of people cheering, glad to see that
laws are equally applied to both rich and poor.

I don't think you can just cite this as evidence that people in the UK are
jealous of wealth.

------
petewarden
The best part of leaving the UK was escaping the cycle of negativity. Sure
this guy is warped by it and comes across really badly, but it's insanely
helpful being able to say I'm working on a startup and have people be
understanding and supportive. If you don't believe me about the attitude of
some British people, check out this Guardian article and the comments:

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/10/not-safe-
fo...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/10/not-safe-for-work-
internet-london)

I tried to make sense of it all myself here:

[http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/2009/07/you-
cant...](http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/2009/07/you-cant-fail-if-
you-dont-try-or-why-i-left-the-uk.html)

~~~
EwanMacLeod
Linked to both of those in an update at the bottom of the post Pete. Nice one!

------
petercooper
He nailed it. It's written in an abrasive tone that's sure to attract negative
reactions, but the array of positive comments left so far show an undercurrent
of support (and I've had plenty of positive retweets and responses on Twitter
after mentioning it). Nonetheless, it's the patriotic right of some to believe
everything is fine and dandy here.

I've always played it by being based in the UK (because I haven't been able to
move to the US, maybe in a few years) but having 90%+ of my customer base in
the US (I even took angel investment from the US, like the article's author).
That way I enjoy the UK's tax system and I can live here legally, but I enjoy
a customer base with a clue (try selling Internet services or advertising in
the UK - ha ha ha). Works for now-ish but the startup visa could be a big
help.

(In retrospect, maybe I should edit my post to say this guy is totally wrong
to stop getting downvoted by the handful of patriotic Brits who remain :-) By
jove, humbug to the US, chaps, the UK is splendid!)

------
pclark
> In the UK, entrepreneurs try too. The first thing that happens is they
> become social outcasts. They’re labeled, with a bit of a laugh, ‘delboys’

what is this nonsense. (If anything I find high correlation between
entrepreneurs and getting laid.)

~~~
petercooper
(I thought you were plc on Twitter and hence British? I'll explain anyway for
the benefit of the non-Brits!)

Del Boy - <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Boy> \- is the lead character in,
perhaps, Britain's best ever sitcom that ran in the early 1980s, _Only Fools
and Horses_. Del Boy was a slightly shady trader-cum-entrepreneur who always
had an eye out for some dodgy merchandise to shift.

Calling some a "Del Boy" communicates the attitude of seeing entrepreneurs as
fly by nights, always looking out for an easy buck.

~~~
pclark
oh, heh, I simply meant "this doesn't actually happen" :)

Lovely Jubbly!

~~~
petercooper
I don't know how popular it is, but I've faced it. I now only tend to
associate with people in the lifestyle or who have aspirations to work for
themselves anyway.

I'm guessing it's a lot _less_ common nowadays, though, simply because
entrepreneurship and business have become "cool" thanks to the popularity of
the Internet and TV shows like Dragon's Den (Shark Tank, to those of you in
the US) and The Apprentice. In the last 90s, though, when I first became self
employed, people did react a bit weirdly!

------
robin_reala
The author’s a bit bitter, isn’t (s)he?

~~~
wheels
That honestly to me seems to be a much larger problem in the London startup
scene. I'm out there pretty often and it's not bad -- there are a lot of
investors both VC and angel, a good smattering of startups and altogether a
great environment for starting a company ... and all everybody does is
complain about how bad it is.

At the last TechCrunch meetup I went to there, there was a whole talk with
completely bat-shit reasons on why the UK had it so bad and the US was so much
better (e.g. startups couldn't do well because Brown isn't as cool as Obama).

~~~
btilly
_startups couldn't do well because Brown isn't as cool as Obama_

OMG, someone used that as an excuse? What was their excuse when Blair and Bush
were in power?

------
rbanffy
I know a couple Brazilian ones that are quite frustrated too.

------
arethuza
Well, I would have said from that rant that it is pretty clear why nobody
invested in his ventures or purchased his products.

~~~
EwanMacLeod
I thought I better step in here to say that I've had $25k, $50k, $300k,
$1,000,000 and $2,000,000 investments so far. The last exit was $24m, the
products and services continue to be purchased.

Ewan (author of the post)

~~~
arethuza
Good for you!

So why not mention that in the article to balance things a bit?

~~~
EwanMacLeod
I wanted to target the British entrepreneurs who're suffering and keeping
quiet, or not necessarily recognising reality. I didn't think think that
including my achievements would necessarily be that useful. But I understand
it would have helped to balance things out though.

------
zavulon
Can the founder on this visa eventually apply for a green card, and bring
their family here? Or is it employment-only visa?

~~~
mallipeddi
I think you'll be thrown out of the country as soon as your startup tanks or
you choose to leave the startup.

