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I was wondering that as well. I guess many foreign founders will be from countries that are part of the visa waiver program, but my understanding is that it do
by timw6n 13y ago
I was wondering that as well.
I guess many foreign founders will be from countries that are part of the visa waiver program, but my understanding is that it doesn't strictly allow working (as opposed to business meetings) within the US, which would seem to rule out being actively involved in a YC startup.
- recuter 13y agoThis is actually one of the things that made me not apply. So I'd be curios what people came up with.
- seiji 13y agoMost of them probably just cheat. I've known half a dozen people in the country illegally working on startups. (With values of illegal from "left company sponsoring them but didn't leave the US" to "founded company on visitor visa and stayed in country for ten years without getting the visa updated.")
- recuter 13y agoThat is exactly the sort of risk I wouldn't take - how can anybody invest in them when they can be deported at any time for a long stretch of time?
- argonaut 13y agoThis might be a little harsh, but I feel like this kind of risk-aversion is actually a negative signal/filter for YC and other investors. The fact that someone would let a small risk (<1% chance of getting caught if you're smart about it) deter them from applying in the first place. That's just the illegal route. I know founder who have found ways to make the legal route work (O1, finding a co-founder who will stay in the US while the other co-founder travels back and forth, etc. etc.)
- saryant 13y agoRisk aversion isn't bad. A founder is already taking significant risks in other parts of their lives, controlling the remaining risk is just smart. Of the successful founders I know personally, each and every one is incredibly risk averse in anything ancillary to the startup itself.
- argonaut 13y agoYes, but YC/investors/moving to the US is hardly ancillary to startups. And this was enough to dissuade someone from even applying!
- jorgeortiz85 13y agoIt's not about risk, it's about overcoming obstacles. Dealing with US visas is a pain, but it's nowhere near as painful as everything else you need to do to make a startup succeed. If you're going to give up because of a visa obstacle, you're not cut out to be a founder.
- saryant 13y agoI was talking specifically about working in the US illegally, not overcoming visa troubles themselves.