"Research shows that venture capital backed companies
are about 150 times as likely as the average start-up to create jobs."
— Scott Shane, Case Western Reserve University
"When it comes to U.S. job growth, startup companies arent't everything.
They're the only thing. New firms add an average of 3 million jobs
in their first year, while older companies lose 1 million jobs annually."
"Despite the fact that they constitute only 12% of the U.S. population,
immigrants have started 52% of Silicon Valley's technology companies
and contributed to more than 25% of our global patents."
The Start-Up Visa act was introduced as a bill in Congress on
February 14th, 2010 by John Kerry (D-MA) & Richard Lugar (R-IN)
It gained overwhelming support from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
It was allowed to expire at the end of the last congress in December 2010.
after graduating in my home country, France,
to work on cutting-edge web technology.
As an entrepreneur starting a company in the US,
your range of visa options is limited, if existent at all.
You have to fit somewhere within the mold to get a visa.
and to be in the technology sector,
most likely you don't fit anywhere.
While I am building a start-up here in San Francisco,
I have had a lot of stress myself,
There needs to be a visa that takes into account
the talent and potential of entrepreneurs.
It's an issue that affects a lot of entrepreneurs,
and economic development at large.
I decided to reach to some fellow entrepreneurs
I am Augusto Marietti, I am 22
I graduated last year in economics
I am Ben Way, I am 30 years old,
and I am one of the Rainmakers,
one of the world's leading innovation corporate venture companies
I am Brian, from Canada, from Vancouver
I started a company called Kiip
we are a mobile in-game advertising platform
Hey, I am Yu-Kai Chou, I am the founder of Viralogy and RewardMe
and I have actually been in the states for a very long time
I was here since middle-school
because my father is a diplomat.
My name is Ronald Mannak, I am from Holland orginally
and I moved here to the US in July
Hi, I am Carlo, I am from Italy
and I own my company in Italy, we started in 2000
and now, we produce a software, a software for entreprises
Hi, I am Vinny Lingham, I am the founder and CEO
I am from South Africa, I was born and raised there
and I am started my first company in 2003
So basically, MaShape, it's the first ever API Market Place
API is an Application Programming Interface
What I am doing is like a marketplace where you can sell
not just the entire software, but the pieces
and the components, that are going to create
I started in business when I was 15 years old, at 17
I raised $40 million, to be become one of the first
dot-com millionaires, I went home to advise
the U.K. government, the U.S. government
By the time I was 21, I had lost the lot.
But I started again, and for the last 10 years
we built-up a portfolio of companies
37 businesses across 3 continents
I actually first moved-down from Vancouver
to work at a company called Digg
and my visa history with them is that I had
I was working on business development
and then obviously I was affected by the layoffs
and then I had to go ahead and figure out
what's has happened over the last two months
is, we managed to raise some seed financing
from a VC firm, and some angel investors
Apparently, I may be the youngest person
to ever raise institutional VC capital
So that's been a very interesting ride so far.
RewardMe iteself is a, you could say
it's a loyalty program for brick-and-mortar stores
on the iPhone and Android phones
Right now, brick-and-mortar stores are really strugling
because there is so much competition
there is a lot of discounting, rents are going higher
so, they need something that engage their customers
in a much more intimate manner
so, instead of having them bash out discounts
we want to give rewards to their most loyal customers
and give them reasons to come back more often.
I am working right now on a new
to be short, it's an air guitar for the iPhone
We've got a motion-sensing guitar pick
and some pretty cool software on the iPhone
That hasn't been done before, it's new
and most of all, it's a lot of fun.
MyK is a software platform for enterprises
and we are able to gather feedback
and we help them to take better decisions
It's a sort of business intelligence application
and we mix the transactionnals
so it distills data and the feedback
this way you have a better understanding of your business.
With Yola, we came-up with the concept of
making it easy for people to get online
and connect with online marketing services
What became evident in mid-2006, 2007
is that the smaller businesses hadn't really gotten online yet
the local businesses would-be participating
in this huge explosion of being able to
be found online and handle transactions online.
So we had built a self-service tool, a self-service platform
that really allow people to create their own Web presence
and market and manage themselves on social networks
And has the service has evolved
really create some service-tight integration with
Why come to the United States to start your business?
This is the only place in the World, probably
where you can build an innovative startup
everything is here, the lawyers are here, the known
how you build a company like this
All the lawyers here, understand the technology
all the lawyers are for startups.
This is an example, consulting and accounting is the same.
If you go in Europe, it's really rare to find a lawyer
that understands venture capital investment
seed, and stuff like that. They don't know.
I like to say that, in San Francisco, the Bay Area
there's been this, accelerate that's
been poured over the entire area
and everything just happens faster.
So, if you want to do fashion, probably Milan
or Paris is the best place, right.
If you want to do finance; Singapore, London, New York
But if you want to do tech, nowadays
San Francisco is the best place
you have a better chance to succeed
because all the people are here, the network is here
I like how this place really endorses innovation
I want to be in an environment where everyone
is willing to take risks based on innovative ideas
As much as I had a great idea, I also wanted to take
and I thought that, this is the place where you build
So it really was, fulfillment of a personal goal
an ambition of mine to live and work in United States.
There is a reason why the Valley, is still the Valley
And that it's still the head of the pack
There was definitely a lot of opportunity there
for me to build what I wanted to build.
How does your project benefit the US economy?
The last 20 years, all the jobs created
in the United States, where created from startups
out of those startups, 50% of those startups are created from immigrants
That's a huge amount of new jobs created by people
that actually, are not U.S. Citizens
And you notice, whenever there's holidays
people fly home, no one is actually a San Francisco
native, but they come here to make magic happen
We've already employed 3 people full-time
and plan to hire another 4 to 5 in the next 2 months
Our company will be an American company
so it will provide, I think, at least 10
The turn-over rate for restaurants is huge
because they always deal with more problems
you know, the competition all discounting
and these are stores that usually don't find
innovative ways to do things, because very few
of them have technology backgrounds
So we are providing a technology that helps
them stay in business for longer
helps them become a more solid company
and we know that a lot of the economy in the United States
is driven by these brick-and-mortal stores.
So far, we've raised over $25 million
from investors whose money is set offshore
they are foreign investors and the money came into the U.S.
and that money basically became part of the U.S. economy
and further the economy with us hiring people and
paying salaries and expenses, rentals, etc.
so there is a huge benefit to U.S. economy
because it's one small company, we were able
to create over 40 jobs from a single company
and we're still growing, we are still building that business up.
So currently, if you take our 5 businesses
each business has its own set of employees
so not only do we employ multiple people
for each businesses but we employ management
for each one of these businesses as well
so I am hoping, within a couple years
we will employ over a 100 people in the United States.
And these jobs are not just for having someone
buys groceries, but these are jobs that help them
create more innovation, that create more jobs in the future.
I mean, if I am good I can create jobs in the United States
of course, right, this is a consequence
but to do that I have to stay here to have a successful company
and to have a successful company, it's better to stay here.
What problems have you run into as a foreigner
trying to build a company here in the US?
was one of the most challenging things
And I've had a challenging life.
It started with me, just quite simply wanting
a business visa because I had already started
a business in the United States
I thought it'd be the easiest thing in the world
especially since I had advised the White House
I kind of thought, you know, come on guys
I did some work for you for free
you can see I am a great believer in the United States
but oh no, I couldn't even get a simple business visa
because they looked at me and they said
well you've already started a business
so you can't apply for a business visa because it's too late
now you need to apply for an investor visa, so
I spend three months putting together
what's called an E-2, an investor visa
I invest a $125,000 into the United States company
and yet, I still could not get this visa
they rejected me on the basis that we were a startup
and this E-2 was based on a treaty from
something ridiculous, like 1870
So, I have to do a consulate interview
just to have it signed-off, my lawyer said
"it's just a tick in the box, you know, you've been approved
they've taken your application"
so I go back to London, which was only supposed to be a few days
and I go to the Embassy, and the guy behind the window
looks at my application, he looks at me
and I look young at the best of time
and he goes, "what are you doing getting an O-1 application?"
Almost as if he is looking at me like a kid like
He actually had to go and print off the criteria
and then he quizzed me for 20 minutes
and then he said, "well I don't really have time
to review this application" so he suspended it.
And not only did he suspend it
there was no information about what I needed to bring
or provide extra, he was just like, "it's suspended."
So what happened next? Well I can tell you
what happened next. First of all
I had to close down two of my U.S. companies
I had to sack U.S. employees. Alright.
the cost to the U.S. economy, I would say
would be in the millions of dollars.
of my ringing the embassy, trying to get in contact
with the embassy, my lawyer's trying to get in contact
You can't write them, you can't talk to them
you can't get an answer out of them.
By the time, finally, they rang me up after a year
I closed down all my businesses in the U.S.
and it was really a challenge whether I was going
One of the interesting parts that happened to me
was when, I think it was in 2009,
after the economic situation turned
in the U.S. and things went the wrong way
I think, there was a lot of job loss, and the like
My visa, my O-1 visa, had actually expired
at that point in time, and when I applied to renew it,
we got pushed back from immigration
that, you know, my duties were not executive in nature
or something along those lines
and they weren't going to renew my visa.
And this is, you know, 4-5 months just after
we raised an additional $20 million
to create jobs in the U.S. and employ people
and take the company to the next level.
Clearly, a CEO's job is quite executive in nature
so it wasn't, it was probably part of an internal processing
error more than anything else.
but overall I think, from where I stand, I think
the immigration process, doing it the way we did it
where we have a company with an office here
was a lot more simpler than when I started off
in the beginning, trying to move to the U.S.
As an entrepreneur, with a startup and an idea
when I came here, looking for funding and
speaking with venture capitalists
they wouldn't fund me, and that was back in 2007, 2006
the market was pretty hot, I had a great idea
and I had a great concept, but for them
it was, when you move operations here,
when you based here, give us a call.
We don't want to go through the risk
of having to sponsor your visas
and get the paperwork done and stuff for the companies here
you're going to do that by yourself
and that was a difficult part.
I work, I need to plan, because I own my company in Italy
I am not here because I want to be simply lucky
I am here because I need to expand my business
so I have to plan, I have to schedule activites
I had some problems, because the immigration officer
said that probably, I should have applied for a B-1 for a visa
but it was a completely different information
from what they told me in Italy.
We spent almost one hour and twenty minutes
they asked me also, what my product is
how old was my company, where it was based
and they also asked me, if I can find some customers here
where the money will go through
so I had to explain a lot of things.
In my point of view, it was just like a person,
can decide about my future here
there is a sort of gray area, gray zone
where the laws seems, can be applied in a different way
depends on the person you are in front of.
All depends from the guy at the point of entry
wherever you land, you're landing in Chicago
or in San Francisco, so even with a visa
nothing is sure, right? You came here
after fifteen hours of flight, you have a visa
you came here at the point of entry the guys can reject you
the guy can say, no you can't stay here
or you can stay here for only two weeks,
There is no visa for entrepreneurs or founders, right?
But those are the people that create new jobs
as the Kauffman Foundation discovered
and there is no visa for these people
No visa for people who in the last twenty years
have created 50% of the workforce.
He can reject the next Mark Zuckerberg
he can reject the next company with 20,000 employees
and he doesn't know, he has so much power
understands nothing about this economy
these businesses, how can you give
so much power to a guy like that?
The current system, entrepreneurship is risky enough,
but the current system increases the risks substantially
because, for a startup to work, it obviously want
and need startup capital, and like I said, a lot of times
it's really hard to raise capital
when you are trying to stay in the states, but you can't
A lot of people, sometimes, if you go back to your own country
it's much easier to raise that capital from the U.S.
Say, hey, you know, I have an idea in Taiwan, it's going
to make a lot of money, why don't you invest here
That's easier than saying, hey, I want to start
a company in the U.S., can you invest in me?
the U.S. investors, they can invest anywhere they want
to China, to India, to wherever the opportunities are
and if the U.S is stopping the innovators to come to the U.S.
then the innovation is happening somewhere else
and obviously because of that, the money is flowing somewhere else too
So, by not allowing talents and innovation to be in the U.S.
the U.S. is allowing all that capital for innovation
That's just how the world works
there is always places that people will go
and if you make it very difficult for smart people
to realize the cost and benefit
once that scale tips, you're going to see
an influx of people outwards, into other areas
and of course Asia is already dominating
just because there are a lot of smart people there
and they realize that staying there and building
something there is now, much more lucrative and
much more likely to succeed than if they were to
What steps do you think could be taken immediately
I think, from personal experience, there are a number
of ways the U.S. visa system could be improved
first of all, we need an entrepreneur visa, OK?
Entrepreneurs create wealth, they pay taxes
and they make money for the U.S. economy
and most importantly, we create jobs.
So there needs to be an entrepreneur visa.
There are at this moment no visas scattered for entrepreneurs
all visas available are meant for people who want
I don't want to have a job here, I want to create jobs in the U.S.
I think the Startup Visa will be essential for people like me
Because if you look into the past founders of great companies
very few have started millionaires, people who can
So, when it comes to people like me, who don't have
a million dollars in the bank, but have the ability to
recruit a team and raise money,
the Startup Visa will be the perfect solution
to have me stay in this country, create those jobs
create the innovations at the place where I want to
and I think that is an almost necessary step
for the U.S. government to do to keep the U.S. competitive
and keep in the forefront of innovation that
has been maintaing for the past decades.
If the Startup Visa was in place when I started looking
for funding, I would have certainly taken it
and raised less money, gotten here quicker
I would probably added an extra year to the time
I would definitely have loved to have had a Startup Visa
but if we can get that visa in place
I think it a fantastic concept, I think it's going to attract
the best and brightest people around the world
When contacted for a short interview,
representatives of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
informed us that all interview requests must be made in writing
After making a formal written request, we received no further response.
The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has the authority
to allow of deny entry to any immigrant at the border,
They have 200 dedicated press officers
They also declined to be interviewed.
The United States does not currently have a visa category
Through a patchwork of alternatives, some entrepreneurs
manage to stay, while others are forced to leave,
taking their companies and their jobs with them.
"If your ship doesn't come in, swim to it." — Jonathan Winters
Quote found in the email signature of our USCIS contact.
Produced by: Basil Glew-Galloway
Associate Producer: Derek Dabkoski
Camera Operators: Chloe Nichols, Kindrid Parker,
Justin La Fleur, Basil Glew-Galloway
Motion Graphics by: Jacob van Leeuwen
Edited by: Kindrid Parker, Basil Glew-Galloway
Featuring: Tarik Ansari, Carlo Alberto Degli Atti,
Ronald Mannak, Augusto Marietti,
Special thanks to: Massimo Sgrelli, Brad Feld,
Robb Kunz, Elizabeth Ü, Stefania, Francua Flippe,
Augusto Marietti, Mike Shaver, Carlo Alberto Degli Atti,
George H., Alex, Mark Pollard, Jeremy Nulik,
Jason Putorti, Hunter Owens, Christian Owens,
Ethan Resnick, Ben Reyes, Dan Martell, Gaurav Kishore,
César Salazar, Nathaniel Whittemore, Richard Tibbetts,
Alberto Padilla Luengas, Oza Klanjsek, Philipp Berner,
Andreas M. Brændhaugen, Justin Ip, Vikrant Ramteke,
Alejandro Corpeño, Adrián Catalán, Kevin Hartz,
Matthew M. Gonzales, Adam D'Augelli, Mathias J. Holzmann,
Rouge Sur Blanc, Purvi Rajani, Majid Fard, Adam Wride,
Emily Nakano Co, Joshua Chen, Damir Zekić, Don Ryan,
Antonio Evans, Ben Way, Niall Smart, Kirin Kalia,
Edy Sulistyo, Henry Liu, Courtney Guertin,
Sebastian Mortelmans, Jacob Brody, Dave Heal, Azymnis,
Brian Wong, Jonathan Jaeger, Tim Rosenblatt, Craig Fisk,
clarkf, Uday Ayyagari, Dave Knox, Alan Ho, Abby Fichtner,
Jennifer Berk, Heather Wetzler, John Prendergast,
N. Monteiro, Courtney Boyd Myers, Yu-kai Chou, Katherine,
Diego Gomes, Yoyo Zhou, Ben Goodyear.
Additional thanks to: Hermione Way, Kickstarter,