Living and working in the US is a blast, and it is something that is very tough to do without company backing (even for educated Brits). Opportunities like this

Living and working in the US is a blast, and it is something that is very tough to do without company backing (even for educated Brits). Opportunities like this are pretty rare. The contacts you make will last a lifetime, so if you ever want to go back later in life you can do so with less risk and uncertainty. You would be giving up control of your idea. Probably that isn't a huge problem provided you are compensated in equity - there are always more ideas. The other area of compensation that shouldn't be overlooked is that you will be working with and hopefully learning from people who do have experience in acquiring funding, which would be very useful for the next thing. If you do decide to work in the UK then depending on the sector I might know some people who would be worth talking to (mail in profile). Most activity seems to originate in London, but it's a small country and even from as far as Manchester coming down once a week for meetings is not hard or expensive provided you live on a train line.