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Don't forget - a US immigration system that makes it incredibly difficult, expensive, and time consuming for individuals from China (and India, which is followi

Don't forget - a US immigration system that makes it incredibly difficult, expensive, and time consuming for individuals from China (and India, which is following the same VC trends as China, just time shifted) to come and settle in the US. Increasingly, money that would have flowed to US VCs can just stay "at home" and invest in talent that is increasingly staying.

pkaye 9y ago
What about the EB-5 visa?
- z2 9y ago
  Assuming from the point of view of a founder, would they want to loan $500k to $1M to a US government-sanctioned project likely to return -100% to 3% over at least 5 years? If I had that money to spare AND was keen on founding a company, I'd more likely literally burn half the money for heating, and use the remaining half for a startup in my own country first. For a VC looking to immigrate, maybe... Edit: Or do you mean getting US VCs into said US government-sanctioned projects, so that the US can take EB-5 money and use it on VC funding? That's quite brilliant.
- karthikb 9y ago
  Not going to work for most founders. The point is that VC money chases where founders and their talent are, which is why the SF Bay Area has had such as stronghold for such a long time. As the US makes it more difficult for founders and talent to come to the US, VCs will focus on areas where those founders actually are. And if your option is - stay in your home country and take local money, or try to move to the US, maybe having to figure out all sorts of loopholes to speedup the process and still spend years doing so...which do you pick? Combine this with major new technologies on the horizon (especially around autonomy, AI - potentially, and others) which give opportunities for new players, and an incredible amount of recently created wealth looking for new growth opportunities in China and India and you have the recipe for a massive shift in balance.
  - pkaye 9y ago
    I misread the parent post and was thinking of VCs. Anyway my view is that it is good for the wealth and opportunities to spread around a bit. It will benefit us all that more people around the world are solving problems in science, technology and medicine.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    Now try getting a visa as a founder in China or India.

pkaye 9y ago

What about the EB-5 visa?

z2 9y ago
Assuming from the point of view of a founder, would they want to loan $500k to $1M to a US government-sanctioned project likely to return -100% to 3% over at least 5 years? If I had that money to spare AND was keen on founding a company, I'd more likely literally burn half the money for heating, and use the remaining half for a startup in my own country first. For a VC looking to immigrate, maybe... Edit: Or do you mean getting US VCs into said US government-sanctioned projects, so that the US can take EB-5 money and use it on VC funding? That's quite brilliant.
karthikb 9y ago
Not going to work for most founders. The point is that VC money chases where founders and their talent are, which is why the SF Bay Area has had such as stronghold for such a long time. As the US makes it more difficult for founders and talent to come to the US, VCs will focus on areas where those founders actually are. And if your option is - stay in your home country and take local money, or try to move to the US, maybe having to figure out all sorts of loopholes to speedup the process and still spend years doing so...which do you pick? Combine this with major new technologies on the horizon (especially around autonomy, AI - potentially, and others) which give opportunities for new players, and an incredible amount of recently created wealth looking for new growth opportunities in China and India and you have the recipe for a massive shift in balance.
- pkaye 9y ago
  I misread the parent post and was thinking of VCs. Anyway my view is that it is good for the wealth and opportunities to spread around a bit. It will benefit us all that more people around the world are solving problems in science, technology and medicine.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  Now try getting a visa as a founder in China or India.