Some of the greatest minds of Silicon Valley have come up with a new idea to help spark productivity in America. And this time, it’s not a new business model for a website or a new hardware design. Paul Graham of the venture firm known as Y Combinator was the first to propose the idea of a startup visa.
Much as the name suggests, the visa would allow foreign entrepreneurs to start a company in the US. All they need to do is raise $250,000 from qualified U.S. investors. Within two years, the company must satisfy one of three conditions in order for the founder to get a green card. These conditions are: One, the startup must create five new jobs; two, it must raise at least $1 million; and three, it must generate at least $1 million in revenue. If none of the conditions are met, the founder must simply leave the country.

This is a marked improvement on the H-1B visa, which allows firms to temporarily employ foreign workers for three years with the possibility of a renewal. The H-1B visa has a 65,000 yearly numerical cap that prevents too many foreign workers from being able to work in the country at the same time. It has also been criticized for allowing foreigners to fill job positions that may otherwise be granted to US citizens.

Far from the H-1B visa, the startup visa actually shows promise in the creation of jobs for Americans, while helping to support the economy with foreign innovations and talent. Venture firms looking for the next big idea no longer have to invest outside the country in order to capitalize on great ideas.
Other Silicon Valley natives that support the visa are Eric Ries, Dave McClure, Shervin Pishevar, Brad Feld, Paul Kedrosky, Manu Kumar, & Fred Wilson. The Startup Visa Act was introduced in late February of this year.

While this works out for the founders of startup companies and for the US, one has to wonder how foreign governments will react to having their human resources courted away. Developing countries are already at a disadvantage without having their best talent pirated so easily.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Innovation.