Category: Learnings

VISAs for International Founders Doing Startups in U.S.

Hello there foreigners and immigrants. Yeah that’s you (and me).

Today, I’m going to save you few bucks from expensive consulting fees with the immigration lawyers. Sadly, below does not cover the details, but will give you an idea of which route you can take.

There are five VISA types for international founders/entrepreneurs entering the U.S.: L1, E2, EB5, H1B, O

Let’s go through each of them briefly below:

1. L1

  1. For whom? Expats(execs, managers, specialists) working at US Entity (with minimum of 1 year employment history at the foreign company)
  2. Duration & Extension 3 yrs + 3 yrs (+ 1 yr for execs/managers) (total 6 ~ 7 yrs max)
  3. Difficulty Depends on the company (must show that it will survive, easier with $1M+ previous funding)
  4. Quota Any time (get the result in 15 days after filing using premium processing)
  5. Family/Spouse can work? Yes
  6. Greencard Yes

Continue reading “VISAs for International Founders Doing Startups in U.S.”

8 ways to spot a truly exceptional employee

Great employees possess a wide range of easily defined — but hard to find — qualities.

8 ways to spot a truly exceptional employee

Lecture 20 – Later-stage Advice (Sam Altman)

Sam caps off the How to Start a Startup series with things you should ignore when you start, but become important a year in. Thanks for watching How to Start a Startup. Hope you learned a ton!

Lecture 19 – Sales and Marketing; How to Talk to Investors (Tyler Bosmeny; YC Partners)

Tyler Bosmeny, founder and CEO of Clever, starts off today’s lecture with an overview of the Sales Funnel, and how to get to your first $1 Million.

Michael Seibel, founder of Justin.tv and Socialcam and Partner at Y Combinator, then goes over how to talk to investors – the pitch.

Dalton Caldwell, founder of imeem and App.net and Partner at Y Combiantor, and Qasar Younis, founder of Talkbin and Partner at Y Combinator, then perform an investor meeting roleplay to give you a taste of how it actually might look behind the scenes.

Three segments in today’s lecture – Lecture 19 of How to Start a Startup.

Richard Branson’s Top 10 Quotes on Leadership – Virgin.com

10. A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could. –Zig Ziglar 9. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. –Steve Jobs 8. Tend to the people, and they will tend to the business.–John Maxwell 7. Leaders think and talk abo…

Richard Branson’s Top 10 Quotes on Leadership – Virgin.com

Lecture 18 – Legal and Accounting Basics for Startups (Kirsty Nathoo, Carolynn Levy)

There’s a lot that goes behind the scenes in running a startup. Getting the legal, finance (equity allocation, vesting), accounting, and other overhead right will save you a lot of pain in the long run. Kirsty Nathoo, CFO at Y Combinator, and Carolynn Levy, General Counsel at Y Combinator, cover these very important topics, in Lecture 18 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture 17 – How to Design Hardware Products (Hosain Rahman)

In Lecture 17 of How to Start a Startup, Hosain Rahman, CEO and Founder of Jawbone, covers the design process for building hardware products users love.

Lecture 16 – How to Run a User Interview (Emmett Shear)

What can you learn by talking to users that you can’t learn by looking at data? What questions should you ask? How can user interviews define or redefine your product goals? Emmett Shear, Founder and CEO of Justin.tv and Twitch, gives us his take – How to Run a User Interview – in Lecture 16 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture 15 – How to Manage (Ben Horowitz)

Ben Horowitz, founder of Andreessen Horowitz, drills into the one management concept that CEOs mess up most – understanding how your decisions impact others, the company, and its culture, in Lecture 15 of How to Start a Startup.

Lecture 14 – How to Operate (Keith Rabois)

What should the CEO be doing on a day to day basis? How do you make sure the company is moving in the right direction? Keith Rabois, Partner at Khosla Ventures and former COO of Square, tackles the nitty gritty – How to Operate – in Lecture 14 of How to Start a Startup.

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