4 ms·

Most high tech companies are founded by founded by First/2nd gen immigrants

10 points by gatsbysong 12y ago

sehr 12y ago
Incredibly, incredibly misleading title.
omonra 12y ago
I'm an immigrant - but this is nonsense. Out of the top 10, only Google (1 out 2 confounders) and Qualcom (1 of 7 cofounders) I'd count as companies that were built by real immigrants. Incidentally both are Jews whose families left persecution in Europe (Italy and USSR).
- gwern 12y ago
  So this chart strongly suggests that we should seal the borders and chose only from the Chosen as the optimal immigration policy?
  - omonra 12y ago
    That's a logical fallacy. Failure to demonstrate X does not necessarily imply that -X is true :) I just hate BS - and this chart is mostly BS (ie Jobs is as much of a 2nd generation immigrant as Obama :)
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
pcrh 12y ago
What percent of the US population is 1st or 2nd Gen immigrant? In the Bay Area, I would guess it is at least 50%.
- dalke 12y ago
  "In 2013, over 40 million foreign-born representing 13% of the population resided in the United States." - http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2013/09/what-percentage-us-population-foreign-born http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2013/09/w... . See also https://www.census.gov/newsroom/pdf/cspan_fb_slides.pdf https://www.census.gov/newsroom/pdf/cspan_fb_slides.pdf . Using that as a baseline (though it has changed over time) means the probability of having at least one foreign-born parent is 25%. Of the remaining 75%, the probability that at least one of the grandparents is foreign born is 42%. 0.25 + 0.75 * 0.42 = 56% chance that someone in the US is a 1st or 2nd generation immigrant. Sure enough, "60% of top 25 tech companies founded by 1st and 2nd generation immigrant" is almost exactly what's expected if a company is founded by a single person. BTW, the table contains at least one error. It says that William Hewlett is not a first or second generation immigrant. William Redington Hewlett's father was Albion Walter Hewlett. (http://www.hewlett.org/about-us/hewlett-family-history/william-redington-hewlett http://www.hewlett.org/about-us/hewlett-family-history/willi... says that William was born in 1913 and the family moved to California in 1916 so his father could work at Stanford. http://medicine.stanford.edu/faculty/hewlett.html http://medicine.stanford.edu/faculty/hewlett.html says "Doctor Albion Walter Hewlett, professor and executive head of the Department of Medicine from 1916 -1925".) The 1910 census record says Albion and his wife were born in California. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLTH-RKY https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLTH-RKY . It also says Albion Hewlett's father was born in England. Therefore, Hewlett is a second generation immigrant.
  - pcrh 12y ago
    Awesome, thanks!

10 points by gatsbysong 12y ago

sehr 12y ago

Incredibly, incredibly misleading title.

I'm an immigrant - but this is nonsense. Out of the top 10, only Google (1 out 2 confounders) and Qualcom (1 of 7 cofounders) I'd count as companies that were built by real immigrants. Incidentally both are Jews whose families left persecution in Europe (Italy and USSR).

gwern 12y ago
So this chart strongly suggests that we should seal the borders and chose only from the Chosen as the optimal immigration policy?
- omonra 12y ago
  That's a logical fallacy. Failure to demonstrate X does not necessarily imply that -X is true :) I just hate BS - and this chart is mostly BS (ie Jobs is as much of a 2nd generation immigrant as Obama :)

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

pcrh 12y ago

What percent of the US population is 1st or 2nd Gen immigrant? In the Bay Area, I would guess it is at least 50%.

dalke 12y ago
"In 2013, over 40 million foreign-born representing 13% of the population resided in the United States." - http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2013/09/what-percentage-us-population-foreign-born http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2013/09/w... . See also https://www.census.gov/newsroom/pdf/cspan_fb_slides.pdf https://www.census.gov/newsroom/pdf/cspan_fb_slides.pdf . Using that as a baseline (though it has changed over time) means the probability of having at least one foreign-born parent is 25%. Of the remaining 75%, the probability that at least one of the grandparents is foreign born is 42%. 0.25 + 0.75 * 0.42 = 56% chance that someone in the US is a 1st or 2nd generation immigrant. Sure enough, "60% of top 25 tech companies founded by 1st and 2nd generation immigrant" is almost exactly what's expected if a company is founded by a single person. BTW, the table contains at least one error. It says that William Hewlett is not a first or second generation immigrant. William Redington Hewlett's father was Albion Walter Hewlett. (http://www.hewlett.org/about-us/hewlett-family-history/william-redington-hewlett http://www.hewlett.org/about-us/hewlett-family-history/willi... says that William was born in 1913 and the family moved to California in 1916 so his father could work at Stanford. http://medicine.stanford.edu/faculty/hewlett.html http://medicine.stanford.edu/faculty/hewlett.html says "Doctor Albion Walter Hewlett, professor and executive head of the Department of Medicine from 1916 -1925".) The 1910 census record says Albion and his wife were born in California. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLTH-RKY https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLTH-RKY . It also says Albion Hewlett's father was born in England. Therefore, Hewlett is a second generation immigrant.
- pcrh 12y ago
  Awesome, thanks!