

Foreign Entrepreneurs Eye StartUp Visa Act - andujo
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020001550357580.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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ardit33
It is a good start, but here is another good idea to the lawmakers.

How about automatic Green Card to any H-1B holder that has been working in the
US for more than 5 years.

1\. To get a H-1B there is a prevailing wage that the employer has to pay.
Enforce that well to avoid body shops type of miss usage.

2\. If you were continuously paid that prevailing wage, that means that there
is need for that skill your bring.

5th year the green card should be in the mail. I bet a lot of current H-1B
holders are itching to start a startup, but they just can't easily walk away
from jobs, or their statuses will be jeopardized.

I have to remember the HN community that there is a lot of good talent that
are holding H-1Bs. Many of them went to US universities and transitioned from
F-1 to H-1B. By the fifth year of employment they will reach 27, a good age to
start something yours.

But unfortunately a lot of H-1B holders have to wait for years, and go through
massive bureaucratic procedures to convert to a GC. Only lawyers and large
employers profit from the current status.

When mobility of employers is restricted by artificial means, the economy and
public in general looses some, while only few actors win/make a profit out of
it.

Continuous employment for 5 years with good salaries is a good balance to show
that there is a need for said foreigner.

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ig1
How would define a prevailing wage given that in the same company two people
with the same job title could be making vastly different sums of money ?

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ojbyrne
It's defined by the federal government by region and classification. The
classifications are pretty formalized as part of the visa process.

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ig1
My point was the data is wrong. It classifies someone doing php work for a
small non-profit as the same as someone developer high-frequency trading
systems for an investment bank, even though in reality there can be an order
of magnitude difference in salaries.

The whole concept of "prevailing wage" is a sham in high-skill occupations.
It's a hangover from blue-collar jobs.

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rohi81
I sincerely hope that the congress takes a good look at this in detail and
pass the bill. This would help a lot of H1 Visa struggling with huge talent
and obnoxious job fits, and their urge to start something in the states. Go
Startup Visa!

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DanielRibeiro
People are tracking all the evolution of startup visa on
<http://startupvisa.com/>

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cal5k
As a Canadian, I'm actually a little appalled by this. Toronto and Vancouver
are hotbeds for gaming, are fast becoming thriving startup communities, and
need smart, motivated entrepreneurs more than ever... why can't Mr. Wong stick
around and do some good for his country if he has already secured funding?

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csel
cal5k, Investors who invest money in your startup don't want to travel 3 hours
(to Vancouver) 8-12 hours (to toronto) to manage their investment.

That is one important factor that makes startups in Toronto and Vancouver very
unattractive. Most Silicon Valley investor invest money in your startup based
on the fact that you are going to be within an hour distance away. It is
easier for them to manage, especially when they have multiple investments. And
that is why Brian can't easily just take the funding and move to Vancouver or
Toronto and set up shop.

And I haven't even started talking about the difference between Canada -
SFO/Mountain View with regards to talent pool and networking.

The point is, in general and this applies to 'most' companies (although not
all), if you want your startup to be successful, you move to Silicon Valley.
The difference is absolutely unbelievable.

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cal5k
This also says a lot about the Canadian VC industry - it's small and risk-
averse. It's a real problem and one that I'm in the early stages of trying to
tackle. I'm a big believer that Canada can become a hotbed of tech innovation
and startups. With that said, we're nowhere near there yet.

Also, there are plenty of VCs much closer to Toronto - New York, for example.
Toronto is starting to become an attractive place to invest for New York-based
VCs.

We have some excellent talent in Canada, and some really great government
programs around research & innovation.

And you don't "have" to move to Silicon Valley. It's a cool place and it
certainly has the right conditions for success, but it sort of fucks our
country when all of our most ambitious entrepreneurs feel like they need to go
to Silicon Valley to succeed. That's just not true, and I'd like to see more
entrepreneurs thinking bigger right here at home.

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trotsky
Interesting that it is trying to create jobs in a sector where demand mostly
outstrips supply, but specifically looks to exclude the lower growth sectors
that often supply the bulk of the jobs that have gone missing in the last few
years.

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cwan
Not sure how you figure. The scarcity that they are targeting here is the
intersect between entrepreneurs with a higher probability of success. Venture
capital/angel investors follow whichever sectors offer the greatest growth /
future economic value. The article does not suggest that there is any sector
that is being targeted.

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trotsky
Would you be happier if I had said sectors instead of a sector? Or do you have
in mind a sector that gets a significant amount of venture funding that also
suffers from high unemployment?

Most venture also wants to see ideas that can scale well non-linearly with
employee count. This leads to the few ballpark successes being pretty job
light compared to their revenue. Which is better for the economy, cash
hoarding and dividends or continual reinvestment in expanding into new
markets?

