What follows is hearsay but it might give you an idea of where you stand. Some co-founders in the latest YC batch are on H1B. I do not know how this can be don

What follows is hearsay but it might give you an idea of where you stand. Some co-founders in the latest YC batch are on H1B. I do not know how this can be done but maybe you could look through a list of founders, locate the non-Americans and ask them (by guessing their email, maybe?). You cannot start a LLC in the US all by yourself, but that should not be a problem if your co-founder is American. He can start it. I've heard that your startup cannot sponsor your H1B visa unless it can be shown that you can be fired, which is not possible unless you give away a lot of equity. I've heard of someone who was on H1B, attended Startup School, walked around trying to talk people into sponsoring his visa so that he can start his startup, and finally got someone to do it. I'm on H1B and just started sending out feelers. Good luck!