Name: How can H1B (visa) holders do a startup?
Uploaded: 2023-08-25T05:57:29+00:00
Duration: 1 h 2 min 30 s
Description: As an H1B holder, it can be hard to imagine starting a company

How can H1B (visa) holders do a startup?

As an H1B holder, it can be hard to imagine starting a company. However, many H1B holders (and other visa holders) are able to navigate the startup landscape, maximize opportunities, and turn their entrepreneurial dreams into reality. This talk covered practical insights for people on visas.

Our speaker is Harsh Goel, a software engineer turned entrepreneur who has started two startups on an O1 visa. He will share his experience and also the visa experiences of other founders he has interacted with.

Harsh provided advice based on 5 levels of involvement: 
1. Doing side projects that don't make money
2. Doing side projects that make money
3. Doing a startup while working -- what you can and can't do
4. Going full-time into a startup without funding
5. Going full-time into a startup with funding (>$200K)

Harsh also covered insights on how to quickly qualify and apply for an O-1 visa, a **nonimmigrant employment-based visa classification for individuals of extraordinary ability in sciences, education, business, arts or athletics**; or individuals of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture and televisions industries.

To qualify for an O-1 visa, you need to show evidence of being recognized in your academic field. You must show credentials both in achievements and in your place of employment.

- There are 3 categories of achievements, and this turns out to be very easy to manufacture. Things like judging a hackathon or speaking at a conference (no matter the size) are common ways to demonstrate this. With some hard work and time, **most people can meet this criteria for an O-1**.
- You also need "evidence that the employment requires the skills of someone with 'extraordinary ability'". This requires letters of recommendations from peers or managers at work. If you lead a team within a Big Tech company, **you probably have enough to meet this criteria as well.**

Learn more:
- More events on Taro: [https://www.jointaro.com/events/](https://www.jointaro.com/events/)
- Harsh on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/harsh-fyi/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/harsh-fyi/)

As an H1B holder, it can be hard to imagine starting a company

A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model.

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