DISQUS

Jesse · 3 years ago

Very interesting report... I'm willing to bet the number increases significantly if you ask how many founders have immigrant parents! This point has important long term implications because we shouldn't think of a good immigration policy as having only immediate returns. This means we shouldn't focus our immigration on one given sector (tech.) After all, Sergey was just a kid when his PARENTS came over.

dhoom · 3 years ago

The openess of the americans is too great. The american culture of embracing other and assimilating them as themselves definitely creates the most productive environment for an immigrant to succeed

Carl Howe · 3 years ago

This is a topic that the media hasn't covered enough. Immigrants are a huge driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. We should embrace their contributions to our economy, not hinder them.

I'm not entirely convinced, though, that the problem is the H1B visa limitation. I believe the US should be making legal imigration easier overall, not just for those that meet the very specific (and often abused) business requirements of H1B visas. Ideally, people who have a specific plan for building businesses in the US should be allowed and encouraged to do so. Our challenge is to make this possible in the ways that put the fewest barriers in their way. As you note, the next Andy Grove or Jerry Yang may be the person we are keeping out.

Thank you for addressing a topic that doesn't get enough attention.

Startups.in/India · 3 years ago

"Imagine if Jerry Yang had stayed in Taiwan and had not been able to immigrate to the US as a child? Or Andy Grove remained in Hungary? Or Sergey Brin was now living in Russia? Companies that have changed the way we live, work and think would certainly not be headquartered here – and maybe wouldn’t exist at all."

Well, may be they would have existed but in their respective home countries. :)
Yahoo like company in Taiwan, Intel in Hungary, Google in Russia...