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Regarding the "stifles US innovation" -- I see many people refuting this. Having the salary cutoff be a hard requirement of the H1B visa most certainly stifles

Regarding the "stifles US innovation" -- I see many people refuting this. Having the salary cutoff be a hard requirement of the H1B visa most certainly stifles innovation. There isn't an effective visa that allows a tech innovator to bootstrap a company in the US. I can get my company to ramen profitability with minimal funding, but I cannot sponsor my own visa because my startup coffers can't afford to pay a founder-coder $150,000 salary. If you don't have multiple advanced degrees or a magical track record of successful companies or something, you can't get an O1 visa. You have to waste a bunch of time and money daisy-chaining educational visas and associated work authorization from cheap community colleges until you get your company established. We all know building a sustainable product and company is hard enough without arbitrary obstacle courses to waste your time on. Having experienced this first-hand, as a cofounder who had to leave the country for 2 years and work remote until we had gained enough recognition and a warchest to justify an O1 visa for me. I'm not saying the solution is to ignore payscale for H1B's, but until there's a more appropriate visa for an entrepreneur (which by definition has to have simple initial requirements, low cost and reliable success, maybe with down-the-line auditing for extensions), it would be certainly help innovation if the H1-B weren't denied to all the international bootstrapped company founders.

davidgh 9y ago
Can I ask - what’s the motivation to locate yourself in the US while you bootstrap your startup? Is it that you need the US presence to be closer to customers or partners, establish some type of perceived legitimacy, prepare yourself to bring on investors in the US, or perhaps something else?
- keerthiko 9y ago
  I have spent a third of my life here now, grew all my professional connections (and closest friendships) here, understand the market spaces here better, and also just like to live here. My company's product primarily targets the US market and distance makes me lose context. My cofounders are American and live here, and while we are remote friendly since we don't even have an office (I mean I did it for two years), I want remote work to be an option, not forced upon me. The bandwidth of in person co-working sessions and convenience of time zones and meeting up with an hour's notice is obvious. But from a personal perspective, that this is where I grew into a professional adult and where I want to continue my career is more than enough reason.

davidgh 9y ago

Can I ask - what’s the motivation to locate yourself in the US while you bootstrap your startup? Is it that you need the US presence to be closer to customers or partners, establish some type of perceived legitimacy, prepare yourself to bring on investors in the US, or perhaps something else?

keerthiko 9y ago
I have spent a third of my life here now, grew all my professional connections (and closest friendships) here, understand the market spaces here better, and also just like to live here. My company's product primarily targets the US market and distance makes me lose context. My cofounders are American and live here, and while we are remote friendly since we don't even have an office (I mean I did it for two years), I want remote work to be an option, not forced upon me. The bandwidth of in person co-working sessions and convenience of time zones and meeting up with an hour's notice is obvious. But from a personal perspective, that this is where I grew into a professional adult and where I want to continue my career is more than enough reason.