6 ms·

The US Startup Visa: A boon for dismayed, frustrated British entrepreneurs

28 points by micrypt 17y ago

rbanffy 17y ago
I know a couple Brazilian ones that are quite frustrated too.
robin_reala 17y ago
The author’s a bit bitter, isn’t (s)he?
- m0nty 17y ago
  Yes, spent all the article going on about how negative the British are ... kind of ironic really. Then this: "Meanwhile to all British entrepreneurs reading, your head can go back in the sand now." Oooh! Bitchy! I wonder what it's like being the only person in the UK with an ounce of entrepreneurial talent and ambition? He's got some points and undoubtedly the optimism the US is famous for is a bit lacking here, but you'd think he was writing about North Korea rather than a G7 nation.
  - robin_reala 17y ago
    I’ve worked out what annoys me about this article. It’s assuming that the point of a startup is to make you a ton of money rather than a ton of enjoyment. Sorry, but I’d go for the latter every day of the week. Maybe it’s the Britishness in me coming out :)
    - m0nty 17y ago
      The thing that annoys me is the assumption that we're all anti-success narrow-minded ne'er-do-wells without the gumption to get out and be successful, or celebrate when other people are successful. And you know, I don't recognise that in most of the people I meet. Some of them, but it's not the majority.
- wheels 17y ago
  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 17y ago
    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?
axod 17y ago
>> "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 :/
- goatforce5 17y ago
  > > "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." Immigration will get very suspicious of you if you're spending almost all of your time in the States. The business visitor visas are supposed to be for you to conduct meetings and sales pitches, etc - not for you to actually do your day-to-day work. Ultimately they'll just refuse entry to you. I used to have a valid US work visa, and then I moved to Canada and let the US visa expire. Few weeks ago when I was transiting through the US I was sent to secondary screening because they assumed I was going to just stay in the States when I landed there. US immigration has a really really hard time believing that you _wouldn't_ want to live the US, and assume that you'll do anything to stay there.
  - 17y ago
zavulon 17y ago
Can the founder on this visa eventually apply for a green card, and bring their family here? Or is it employment-only visa?
- mallipeddi 17y ago
  I think you'll be thrown out of the country as soon as your startup tanks or you choose to leave the startup.
- huherto 17y ago
  If I understand correctly you can get a visa if you invest $100,000 usd and employ 5 american residents. Isn't that a good fit for the start up founders?
arethuza 17y ago
Well, I would have said from that rant that it is pretty clear why nobody invested in his ventures or purchased his products.
- EwanMacLeod 17y ago
  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 17y ago
    Good for you! So why not mention that in the article to balance things a bit?
    - EwanMacLeod 17y ago
      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.
pclark 17y ago
> 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 17y ago
  (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 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 17y ago
    oh, heh, I simply meant "this doesn't actually happen" :) Lovely Jubbly!
    - EwanMacLeod 17y ago
      It's happened to me and my colleagues and their colleagues (repeat) many times. Good news for you though, if you've not experienced it!
    - petercooper 17y ago
      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!
- EwanMacLeod 17y ago
petewarden 17y ago
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-for-work-internet-london http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/10/not-safe-fo... I tried to make sense of it all myself here: http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/2009/07/you-cant-fail-if-you-dont-try-or-why-i-left-the-uk.html http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/2009/07/you-cant...
- EwanMacLeod 17y ago
  Linked to both of those in an update at the bottom of the post Pete. Nice one!
petercooper 17y ago
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!)

28 points by micrypt 17y ago

rbanffy 17y ago

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

robin_reala 17y ago

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

m0nty 17y ago
Yes, spent all the article going on about how negative the British are ... kind of ironic really. Then this: "Meanwhile to all British entrepreneurs reading, your head can go back in the sand now." Oooh! Bitchy! I wonder what it's like being the only person in the UK with an ounce of entrepreneurial talent and ambition? He's got some points and undoubtedly the optimism the US is famous for is a bit lacking here, but you'd think he was writing about North Korea rather than a G7 nation.
- robin_reala 17y ago
  I’ve worked out what annoys me about this article. It’s assuming that the point of a startup is to make you a ton of money rather than a ton of enjoyment. Sorry, but I’d go for the latter every day of the week. Maybe it’s the Britishness in me coming out :)
  - m0nty 17y ago
    The thing that annoys me is the assumption that we're all anti-success narrow-minded ne'er-do-wells without the gumption to get out and be successful, or celebrate when other people are successful. And you know, I don't recognise that in most of the people I meet. Some of them, but it's not the majority.
wheels 17y ago
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 17y ago
  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?

axod 17y ago

>> "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 :/

goatforce5 17y ago
> > "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." Immigration will get very suspicious of you if you're spending almost all of your time in the States. The business visitor visas are supposed to be for you to conduct meetings and sales pitches, etc - not for you to actually do your day-to-day work. Ultimately they'll just refuse entry to you. I used to have a valid US work visa, and then I moved to Canada and let the US visa expire. Few weeks ago when I was transiting through the US I was sent to secondary screening because they assumed I was going to just stay in the States when I landed there. US immigration has a really really hard time believing that you _wouldn't_ want to live the US, and assume that you'll do anything to stay there.
- 17y ago

zavulon 17y ago

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

mallipeddi 17y ago
I think you'll be thrown out of the country as soon as your startup tanks or you choose to leave the startup.
huherto 17y ago
If I understand correctly you can get a visa if you invest $100,000 usd and employ 5 american residents. Isn't that a good fit for the start up founders?

arethuza 17y ago

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

EwanMacLeod 17y ago
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 17y ago
  Good for you! So why not mention that in the article to balance things a bit?
  - EwanMacLeod 17y ago
    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.

pclark 17y ago

> 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 17y ago
(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 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 17y ago
  oh, heh, I simply meant "this doesn't actually happen" :) Lovely Jubbly!
  - EwanMacLeod 17y ago
    It's happened to me and my colleagues and their colleagues (repeat) many times. Good news for you though, if you've not experienced it!
  - petercooper 17y ago
    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!
EwanMacLeod 17y ago

petewarden 17y ago

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-for-work-internet-london http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/10/not-safe-fo... I tried to make sense of it all myself here: http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/2009/07/you-cant-fail-if-you-dont-try-or-why-i-left-the-uk.html http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/2009/07/you-cant...

EwanMacLeod 17y ago
Linked to both of those in an update at the bottom of the post Pete. Nice one!

petercooper 17y ago

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!)