Not completely the same question. The above discussion answers what to do after or when you are about to get into an accelerator. The question is about before

Not completely the same question. The above discussion answers what to do after or when you are about to get into an accelerator. The question is about before getting there, how do you even think about starting up and applying to YC while on an H1. How can you attract customers, when you can't legally do anything?