Disclaimer: I haven't applied yet, so only talking from the perspective of another would-be applicant having done an amount of research. Every professional opi

Disclaimer: I haven't applied yet, so only talking from the perspective of another would-be applicant having done an amount of research. Every professional opinion about the O-1 I have been given was "the more the merrier", so basically I'm trying to gather everything I have done in the last 6-7 years that could be relevant. Depend on the lawyer to help filter it. Everyone says the success of the O-1 app is heavily dependent on the skill of your lawyer. And they will cost a bit too. An unfortunate thing is I'm told articles about or awards won by my startup or projects do not count for much, unless I worked on them alone and it is clear in the article/award that it is to me rather than the project =/ Things I'm working on/looking at: - I have put efforts to have articles written about me in the local newspapers back home. - Reach out into my network to find people in the highest places (CEOs/cofounders/VCs of successful companies) who might be willing to endorse me for the "recommendation letters from experts in the field" - Dig out data about the academic papers I co-authored in undergrad, to determine how much they're referenced/cited to measure "impactful academic publications". Google Scholar has been helpful here. - Try to give talks about my field (health+technology, mobile development, entrepreneurship), although it's vague how applicable this is. So I'm only doing the ones where I don't have to pay to be given a speaker position (so no commercial expo type deals). - As far as awards, so far can only mention my full tuition scholarship for college, everything else is fairly small-time or won by our company's projects and not me individually. Hoping that claiming I had a critical role to play in that works. - Some easy checkboxes: letter from my employer (a cofounder) that I'm critical to the team. Articles published about our company to show that we're reputable, hence making me critical in a reputable company. - Our company is still picking up, but if we can raise funding, and get some additional traction on our product, those numbers will contribute to showing that I "have made a significant business-related contribution" by stating I had a critical role in building the product responsible for our revenue. The amount of money involved in moving a risky thing like the O-1 is the main thing keeping me from applying till we're a little more stable. I estimate it's approx 3-4 months of my runway (while I'm working from Asia) to go through this process, with no guarantee or even estimate of success :/