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> It's kinda foolish to think all you have to do is open the gates and expect all these foreigners to come in and build companies that hire more Americans. Acc

by udit99 14y ago

> It's kinda foolish to think all you have to do is open the gates and expect all these foreigners to come in and build companies that hire more Americans. According to a paper titled "Silicon Valley's New Immigrant Enterpreneurs)"[1], Indian and Chinese enterpreneurs were responsible for 24% of the technology businesses started between 1980 and 1988. So the idea is definitely backed by statistical evidence. Besides, if there are qualified Americans who can fill these jobs already, why exactly do we have a talent shortage in tech? [1]http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_699ASR.pdf http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_699ASR.pdf

rada 14y ago
Your 24% number is grossly misleading. Quoting your source: [...] Estimate of ethnic entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley was obtained by identifying all businesses with CEOs having Chinese and Indian surnames in a Dun & Bradstreet database of technology firms started since 1980. According to this count, close to one-quarter (24 percent) of Silicon Valley’s technology firms in 1998 had Chinese or Indian executives. Technology company executives are salaried employees - even at C-level, they do not create tech jobs any more than the HR department. Moreover, it's a well-known fact that C-level executives rarely come from founders (example: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/29/why-startup-founders-can-make-solid-ceos/ http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/29/why-startup-fou...). Not to mention that an ethnically Indian/Chinese person is not the same as an immigrant from India/China. If there are qualified Americans who can fill these jobs already, why exactly do we have a talent shortage in tech? Because "we" don't pay enough? Because "we" won't look at anyone over 35? Because "we" demand a statistically improbable combination of skills plus open-source experience plus hobby projects? Because "we" equate talent with blogging? The list goes on and on. (FWIW, I am an immigrant).

by udit99 14y ago

rada 14y ago

Your 24% number is grossly misleading. Quoting your source: [...] Estimate of ethnic entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley was obtained by identifying all businesses with CEOs having Chinese and Indian surnames in a Dun & Bradstreet database of technology firms started since 1980. According to this count, close to one-quarter (24 percent) of Silicon Valley’s technology firms in 1998 had Chinese or Indian executives. Technology company executives are salaried employees - even at C-level, they do not create tech jobs any more than the HR department. Moreover, it's a well-known fact that C-level executives rarely come from founders (example: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/29/why-startup-founders-can-make-solid-ceos/ http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/29/why-startup-fou...). Not to mention that an ethnically Indian/Chinese person is not the same as an immigrant from India/China. If there are qualified Americans who can fill these jobs already, why exactly do we have a talent shortage in tech? Because "we" don't pay enough? Because "we" won't look at anyone over 35? Because "we" demand a statistically improbable combination of skills plus open-source experience plus hobby projects? Because "we" equate talent with blogging? The list goes on and on. (FWIW, I am an immigrant).