The U.S. education system, with all its flaws, is widely regarded as having the best higher education institutions in the world. The American taxpayer is a primary contributor to the stability of this system, in part by financing public institutions, and in part by financing numerous domestic student loans. This financing is then used to support the training and retention of faculty, benefiting both private and public universities. Naturally, then, it is desirable that the brilliant and creative minds that are honed by our tax dollar-backed institutions remain in the U.S. after their graduation, to benefit our domestic economy by increasing productivity and creating American jobs. While it may seem trivial that an American citizen would do so, that is far from being the case for a foreign national. With immigration reform hanging in the air, our greatest loss may be foreign entrepreneurs. When at least one key founder of 25.3% of technology and engineering companies started in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005 is foreign-born, and approximately one million skilled workers are stuck in an immigration limbo, something in our immigration process must change.
With the recent explosive growth of the Internet ecosystem (or the World’s Town Square as Secretary Clinton recently coined it), there are countless opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop new products and services. While not all of these innovations will pan out to become the next Facebook, Amazon, Zynga, or Twitter, those that do will create American jobs and increase our GDP. And while before it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more to develop and market a software product, now, innovative, game-changing technologies such as Twitter, Tumblr, and Groupon can be built within months for a fraction of the cost. Given a proposed $3.2 trillion federal budget and our present deficit and given that more new jobs are created by startups than by large companies, what better way to raise additional tax revenues than fostering the creation of more productive American jobs?
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult for a foreign entrepreneur to pursue a business opportunity domestically. Since foreign entrepreneurs do not have an established firm to sponsor them for an employment visa, they must secure investors first, even when their startup costs are relatively minuscule. To put this into perspective, the current EB-5 visa enables investors from other countries to obtain a visa in exchange for starting a business in the U.S. with at least $1M in capital (or $500K in economically targeted areas), and the creation of at least 10 domestic jobs. For many foreign entrepreneurs, this is an impossible hurdle. As a result, many foreign entrepreneurs are faced with a critical choice: (i) cave in to the current system, work for an established firm, and forgo their passion to pursue a business opportunity; or (ii) go back to their home country to pursue the development of their innovation there. If a foreign national is from another developed or emerging economy, their decision may not be in our favor.
This is where the Startup Visa Act comes in. The bill, sponsored by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), and supported by notables from the technology sector such as Brad Feld, Paul Graham, David McClure, Eric Ries, Vivek Wadhwa (although with some reservations), and Fred Wilson, aims to alleviate some of these issues. The Startup Visa Act grants a temporary work visa to any foreign-born entrepreneur who is able to obtain an investment of at least $100,000 from a venture capitalist or a qualified “super angel” investor in an equity financing of no less than $250,000. To gain permanent residency, the entrepreneur must create five new U.S. jobs within two years, raise more than $1 million in venture capital, or generate sales of more than $1 million annually.
While the bill has its shortcomings, it is an important step in the right direction. It still has major flaws. For instance, it assumes that all startups raise venture capital the Kauffman Foundation has found that 84% of the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies raised no venture capital. It also increases the bargaining power of investors, as they would now have control over an entrepreneur’s legal status, hence reducing the overall incentive to innovate. Clearly, then, the bottom line is that while this is an important step, there is more to be done if we want to keep these entrepreneurs here, and this is what we need to work towards:
With the recent explosive growth of the Internet ecosystem (or the World’s Town Square as Secretary Clinton recently coined it), there are countless opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop new products and services. While not all of these innovations will pan out to become the next Facebook, Amazon, Zynga, or Twitter, those that do will create American jobs and increase our GDP. And while before it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more to develop and market a software product, now, innovative, game-changing technologies such as Twitter, Tumblr, and Groupon can be built within months for a fraction of the cost. Given a proposed $3.2 trillion federal budget and our present deficit and given that more new jobs are created by startups than by large companies, what better way to raise additional tax revenues than fostering the creation of more productive American jobs?
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult for a foreign entrepreneur to pursue a business opportunity domestically. Since foreign entrepreneurs do not have an established firm to sponsor them for an employment visa, they must secure investors first, even when their startup costs are relatively minuscule. To put this into perspective, the current EB-5 visa enables investors from other countries to obtain a visa in exchange for starting a business in the U.S. with at least $1M in capital (or $500K in economically targeted areas), and the creation of at least 10 domestic jobs. For many foreign entrepreneurs, this is an impossible hurdle. As a result, many foreign entrepreneurs are faced with a critical choice: (i) cave in to the current system, work for an established firm, and forgo their passion to pursue a business opportunity; or (ii) go back to their home country to pursue the development of their innovation there. If a foreign national is from another developed or emerging economy, their decision may not be in our favor.
This is where the Startup Visa Act comes in. The bill, sponsored by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), and supported by notables from the technology sector such as Brad Feld, Paul Graham, David McClure, Eric Ries, Vivek Wadhwa (although with some reservations), and Fred Wilson, aims to alleviate some of these issues. The Startup Visa Act grants a temporary work visa to any foreign-born entrepreneur who is able to obtain an investment of at least $100,000 from a venture capitalist or a qualified “super angel” investor in an equity financing of no less than $250,000. To gain permanent residency, the entrepreneur must create five new U.S. jobs within two years, raise more than $1 million in venture capital, or generate sales of more than $1 million annually.
While the bill has its shortcomings, it is an important step in the right direction. It still has major flaws. For instance, it assumes that all startups raise venture capital the Kauffman Foundation has found that 84% of the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies raised no venture capital. It also increases the bargaining power of investors, as they would now have control over an entrepreneur’s legal status, hence reducing the overall incentive to innovate. Clearly, then, the bottom line is that while this is an important step, there is more to be done if we want to keep these entrepreneurs here, and this is what we need to work towards:
(1) We need to sway foreign nationals in favor of innovating here rather than in their home country;
(2) We need to eliminate any additional barriers that startups face in hiring key employees when compared to larger and more established firms; and
(3) We need to resolve the backlog of one million foreign doctors, scientists, engineers, and other high-skilled workers that are stuck in an immigration limbo.
(2) We need to eliminate any additional barriers that startups face in hiring key employees when compared to larger and more established firms; and
(3) We need to resolve the backlog of one million foreign doctors, scientists, engineers, and other high-skilled workers that are stuck in an immigration limbo.
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