Recommendations from the Tech Community

Entrepreneur Pathways Brief

By: Shanna Gong, Jenny Barin, Amanda Nguyen and Todd Schulte
About FWD.us
FWD.us was founded in April 2013 by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman and other
leaders in the technology and business communities. We are a bipartisan organization that
harnesses the best of advocacy campaigns and the technology sector to tackle tough
political problems and issues critical to the United States knowledge economy. FWD.us
mission is to mobilize the tech community to support policies that keep the American
Dream achievable in the 21st century.
FWD.us is a full stack advocacy organization with a top-tier rapid response operation, a
robust digital organizing team, and thousands of active volunteers in 34 cities and 15 states
across the country. We bring together a diverse team of engineers, community organizers,
and policy experts. Since our inception, we have used technology to enable over 400,000
different individuals to take meaningful action in support of immigration reform. FWD.us
enables individuals to come together to create a potent new political movement and
advocate for policy change.
The Urgent Need For Entrepreneurs
Current immigration pathways are severely limited for self-employed entrepreneurs. Yet
studies prove that immigrant entrepreneurs are vital to the U.S. economy: 40% of Fortune
500 companies have an immigrant connection, and for every foreign student with an
advanced degree who stays in the U.S., an additional 2.62 jobs are created.12 Furthermore,
1 "Report: New American Fortune 500 - Partnership for a New American Economy." Partnership for a New
American Economy. Partnership for a New American Economy, 15 June 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

2 "Map the Impact of Immigration Across the Nation." Map the Impact of Immigration Across the Nation.
Partnership for a New American Economy, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

high-skilled immigration reform has strong support from both parties and in Congress. We
urge the administration to take advantage of this momentum and implement an
Entrepreneur Pathways program as quickly as possible.
Closing the Gap Between Tech and Policy
The recommendations in this brief are based on feedback we collected from members of
tech communities throughout the country. We reached out to people in a variety of ways,
including:

A conference call with White House staff and entrepreneurs on streamlining

the immigration process.

Roundtable discussions in San Francisco and Silicon Valley to discuss the
Entrepreneur Pathways Program.
Follow-up interviews with roundtable respondents
Immigration Process Online Survey
In doing so, we brought tech voices into an important policy conversation that will affect
many within the entrepreneurial community. This brief is based upon feedback from over
100 people, encompassing entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, accelerators, and legal
experts.
Shanna Gong is the Director of Community Research at FWD.us. Jenny Barin is the FWD.us
Organizing Coordinator. Amanda Nguyen is a Policy Associate in the FWD.us Department of
Policy & Coalitions. Todd Schulte is President of FWD.us.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary

Eligibility Criteria Recommendations by Applicant Category

F-1 Graduate on OPT

Foreign-Born Entrepreneur Living in U.S.

Foreign-Born Entrepreneur Not in U.S.

Entrepreneur in Competitive Accelerator Program

Other Considerations

General Eligibility Recommendations

Lawful Permanent Residency

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Streamlining the Immigration Process

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Moving Forward

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Executive Summary
The United States needs an immigration system that allows the worlds most talented
entrepreneurs to start the next generation of innovative companies here. FWD.us supports
the Entrepreneur Pathways Program, which would offer Temporary Visas or Lawful
Permanent Residency (LPR) to foreign entrepreneurs.
In order to be successful, the Entrepreneur Pathways program must establish clear
requirements, qualifications and priorities so it can determine who should qualify for legal
status. Below, we have listed some topline recommendations for these requirements.
These recommendations are the result of over 100 responses collected from the tech
community. FWD.us held roundtable and conference call discussions with immigrant tech
entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, distributed an online survey, and
conducted follow-up interviews. Since the content of this brief draws upon a wide range of
perspectives, the following policy recommendations are much broader than we might
usually present.
Temporary Visa Recommendations
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1. Set Distinct Eligibility Criteria According to Applicants Backgrounds and

Circumstances. Different kinds of immigrant entrepreneurs will apply for the
temporary visa young STEM graduates; entrepreneurs living in the U.S.;
entrepreneurs working in competitive accelerators; and entrepreneurs living
abroad. Given the separate challenges facing each kind of applicant, FWD.us
recommends using different criteria to evaluate each kind of entrepreneur (see
columns 1-4 in table below). For example, immigrant STEM graduates should have
lower criteria for investment than foreign-born entrepreneurs with already
established businesses abroad.
Alternatively, if the administration wishes to adopt uniform eligibility criteria for all
applicants, we recommend it use the thresholds listed in the fifth (and right-most)
column of the table.

2. Use An Either/Or Approach in Evaluating Applicants. Temporary visa

applicants will be working in different fields and in different stages of business
development. To account for this, FWD.us recommends that instead of requiring
that every applicant meet all requirements, the administration should allow
applicants to meet a selection of the requirements. For example, entrepreneurs in
biotechnology fields may create several jobs, but will not raise revenue for several
years. Applicants should be allowed to meet the threshold for investment size OR
revenue, but should not need to meet both.
3. Evaluate Job Creation Based on Different Stages of Business
Development. In the table above, we suggest that each of the four kinds of
entrepreneurs meet separate job creation requirements. According to the table,
entrepreneurs living outside the U.S. are required to create more jobs than those
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living inside the country. However, young STEM graduates and entrepreneurs in
accelerator programs are often in the early stages of creating their businesses, and
may not be able to create jobs yet. We recommend that temporary visa applicants
only be held to job creation requirements once they renew their visas, and should
be required to create 2-3 jobs at the time of their renewal request.
Lawful Permanent Residency Recommendations
1. Give Priority to Entrepreneurs that Create Jobs. The Entrepreneur
Pathway program should lay out a limited time period for entrepreneurs to prove
that they have created economic opportunity for other Americans. If they are
successful, they should be strongly prioritized to qualify for lawful permanent
residency under the national interest waiver.
The following brief will detail FWD.us recommendations for evaluating each of the four
different categories of potential applicants. Afterward, we outline a way to evaluate all
applicants more generally. We will also provide feedback on the national interest waiver.
The brief will then close with recommendations for streamlining the general immigration
process.

Eligibility Criteria Recommendations By Applicant

Category
F-1 GRADUATE ON OPT
Are we a nation that educates the worlds best and brightest in our universities, only to send
them home to create businesses in countries that compete against us? Or are we a nation that
encourages them to stay and create jobs here, create businesses here, create industries right
here in America?
-- President Obama
F-1 graduates nearing the end of their OPT periods represent a significant group of
potential applicants for a temporary startup visa. These talented foreign-born graduates
are a vital asset to the domestic economy. Between 2008 to 2012, they contributed $21.8
billion in tuition and $12.8 billion in other spendings.3 International students are also
critical to our countrys standing as a leader in technological innovation. Foreign students
comprise the majority of most U.S. STEM graduate programs: 70.3% of all full-time
graduate students in electrical engineering, 63.2% in computer science, and more than 50
percent in chemical, materials, and mechanical engineers.4
These talented students deserve further options for staying in the country to start their
own businesses. We recommend the following criteria for evaluating this group of
promising candidates for the Entrepreneur Pathway program.
Topline Threshold Recommendations:

Visa Period: 24 months (renewable)

3 Neil G. Ruiz, "The Geography of Foreign Students in U.S. Higher Education: Origins and Destinations." The
Brookings Institute, August 29, 2014.

4 Stuart Anderson, "The Importance of International Students to America." National Foundation for American
Policy, July 2013.

Investment: $25,000 - $50,000

Revenue: sector-dependent
Jobs Created: N/A

Rationale:

Visa Period: F-1 graduates can use their OPT period to develop an idea for a

business or product and secure preliminary funding. The 24-month period for the
Entrepreneur Pathways program will allow graduates to continue raising funds,
developing a product, and/or grow the business. By the end of the 24 months,
graduates will have had enough time to make a case for their businesses success
(job growth, increased revenue, etc.), in order to qualify for visa renewal.
Investment: Recent graduates have had less work experience and less time
to establish themselves within their local tech ecosystem. It may be more difficult
for them to attract larger investments. Their threshold is lower to adjust for this
issue.

Revenue: This is a very subjective criterion that depends upon sector. We will

address this issue in the Other Considerations section of this brief.

Jobs Created: International graduates will most likely spend their OPT period
fine-tuning a product and raising investment. It is therefore not advisable to hold
them to any job creation standards for the application process. However, by the end
of their allotted 24 months, they should have generated at least 2-3 jobs. This can
be a determinant of success, and whether the graduate is a viable candidate for visa
renewal.

FOREIGN-BORN ENTREPRENEUR LIVING IN

U.S.
A second category of potential applicants includes aspiring immigrant entrepreneurs who
are already living in the United States. These applicants have already been living and
working in the U.S. and will be more familiar with the tech and business world than recent
graduates or entrepreneurs not currently in the country. However, because the current
immigration system is primarily restricted to family-based and employment-based
sponsorships, immigrants without green cards are disincentivized from starting their own
companies. The risk of starting a business, multiplied exponentially by the risk of losing

legal status, is often too great. For this group in particular, the Entrepreneur Pathway
represents a crucial opportunity to become entrepreneurs and job creators.
We recommend the following criteria for evaluating foreign-born entrepreneurs currently
residing in the U.S.
Topline Threshold Recommendations:

Visa Period: 24-36 months (renewable)

Investment: $50,000 - $100,000
Revenue: sector-dependent
Jobs Created: 2-3

Rationale:

Visa Period: This is a realistic period to scale a business model and/or user

base.

Investment: These applicants have had sufficient time in the U.S. to raise

funds prior to application. They are also more familiar with and presumably
experienced in the local tech ecosystem.
Revenue: This is a very subjective criterion that depends upon sector. We will
address this issue in the Other Considerations section of this brief.
Jobs Created: The creation of 2-3 jobs is a good indicator of business growth.
Foreign entrepreneurs who have been living and working the U.S. can fairly be
expected to meet this minimal requirement because of this experience.

FOREIGN-BORN ENTREPRENEUR NOT IN U.S.

A third applicant category frequently mentioned during our roundtables was foreign
founders outside the U.S. It is often the case that foreign entrepreneurs have created a
business abroad using funds raised in the U.S. while on a business visa. After securing
funding, U.S. investors will strongly encourage these foreign entrepreneurs to move their
operations to the U.S. However, once a foreign entrepreneur has done so, he/she does not
have a clear pathway to stay in the country.
We recommend the following thresholds for this category of applicants. It is important to
note that this category of applicants has higher thresholds because they are not in the U.S.
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We also chose to focus on foreign funders at more advanced stages of business

development.
Topline Threshold Recommendations:

Visa Period: 24-36 months (renewable)

Investment: $150,000 - $250,000
Revenue: sector-dependent
Jobs Created: 3-4

Rationale:

Visa Period: This is a realistic period to scale a business model and/or user

base.

Investment: These applicants have businesses that are a later stage of

funding and will have built up higher levels of investment.

Revenue: Revenue is a very subjective criterion that depends upon sector.
We will address this issue in the Other Considerations section of this brief.
Jobs Created: During this period of scaling, our survey and roundtable
respondents have suggested bringing on 3-4 employees is the norm.

ENTREPRENEUR IN COMPETITIVE
ACCELERATOR PROGRAM
An accelerator is a selective program that nurtures entrepreneurial teams during their
early phases of development for a fixed period of time, usually spanning about 3-4 months.
Traditional accelerators provide a wide range of services, including: seed funding (ranging
from $25,000 - $250,000), mentorship, banking services, workspace, design consulting,
marketing/public relations support, and legal counsel.
Acceptance into a high profile accelerator represents substantial external validation. Well
known accelerators have an extremely competitive selection process akin to top tier
universities. Prestigious tech accelerators receives thousands of applications per cycle and
admit well under 5% of applicants.
We recommend that applicants accepted into an accelerator program should qualify for

the Entrepreneur Pathway program if they also meet the following criteria.
Topline Threshold Recommendations:

Visa Period: 24-36 months (renewable)

Investment Range: $25,000 - $50,000
Revenue: sector-dependent
Jobs Created: N/A

Rationale:

Visa Period: Many of these companies are in the early stages and are

sometimes even at the conceptual stage. Our sources indicate 24-36 months is a
period that would be realistic for entrepreneurs across high/low tech sectors.
Funding: $25-50k is the average seed funding provided by top accelerators.
Revenue: This is a very subjective criterion that depends upon sector. We will
address this issue in the Other Considerations section of this brief.
Jobs: Accelerator applicants are teams of founders at the early stages of
building their startups. It makes more sense to evaluate their job creation as criteria
for renewal rather than as an initial qualification. A reasonable threshold at the time
of renewal is 2-3 jobs created. This can be a determinant of success, and whether
the applicant should qualify for a visa renewal.

Other Considerations
While collecting feedback from members of the tech community, we noticed a number of
nuances that the administration should take into account while developing the
Entrepreneur Pathway program.

Sector-Specificity: Some of our most consistent feedback dealt with the

sector-specificity of revenue. For example, one substantial example of different

revenue expectations can be seen between hardware and software. Hardware
requires more front-loaded research, meaning it may take years to begin generating
revenue. Meanwhile, software products are comparatively inexpensive and have the
potential to deliver revenue more quickly. While companies focusing on hardware
take longer to become profitable they have the potential to cause crucial
breakthroughs, ranging from biomedical technology to sustainable environmental
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technology. During a secondary input process, we will want to work very closely with
established venture capital firms to determine appropriate sector-specific
thresholds. These firms keep detailed portfolios of the revenue trends for
companies they invest in, which span across different sectors.
Outliers: Success in the startup world does not necessarily require an
advanced degree. We encountered many people without traditional educational
backgrounds who do not qualify for H-1B status or typical work authorization, yet
still have the skills and aspiration to found startups. External validators that
showcase these individuals exceptional ability may include: written
recommendations from a prominent mentor/investor and awards from high-level
hackathons/coding competitions.
Ownership Level of Company: An additional criterion could be a minimum
ownership stake in a company (in % shares). A conservative threshold would be
around 10%, but could go as low as 2%.

General Eligibility Recommendations

Above, we outlined eligibility criteria for four different categories of applicants. However, if
the administration prefers to adopt uniform eligibility criteria, we recommend the following
thresholds:

Visa Period: 24 months (renewable)

Investment: $100,000
Revenue: sector-dependent
Jobs Created: 2-3

If using the above eligibility criteria, we recommend the administration evaluate

applications based on either investment or revenue, but not both. This either/or approach
will account for variable expectations across sectors. While job creation proved to be a
fairly steady constant across the different entrepreneurial industries, investment and
revenue proved more ambiguous.
Businesses with the potential for success might not reach all of the initial criteria for the
Entrepreneur Pathways program. This is because investment requirements vary according
to product type, and revenue expectations according to sector. A startup developing a
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code-based web application might not reach a high investment threshold right away,
though it could generate substantial revenue within a few months. In contrast, a business
developing a biomedical device may acquire high initial investment, but due to extensive
FDA approval processes, might not be able to generate revenue for a few years. Although
neither startup meets all criteria, they are both validated by either U.S. investors or U.S.
customers.

Lawful Permanent Residency

The general thresholds outlined above coincide with the realities of entrepreneurs trying to
launch a successful business. We have outlined clear eligibility criteria based on
investment, revenue, and job creation. We have also delineated a reasonable time period
that will allow entrepreneurs to prove they have created economic opportunity for other
Americans.
If foreign entrepreneurs can demonstrate success at the end of the time period allotted to
them on the temporary pathway, they should be strongly prioritized for the LPR pathway
provided through the national interest waiver. The entrepreneur who demonstrates her
enterprise will create jobs for U.S. workers or otherwise enhance the welfare of the United
States should qualify for the national interest waiver. This falls within the purview of
existing law. In addition, giving talented immigrants a chance to succeed and create
positive impact in our communities aligns with core American values of meritocracy and
opportunity.

Streamlining the Immigration Process

Survey and roundtable respondents also offered recommendations for improving the
immigration process for applicants. We have grouped this feedback into three categories
dealing with application timeline, transparency, and technology.
Shorten the Timeline

Premium processing should be available for applications.

There should be a guaranteed time frame within which the application will be

processed and a decision rendered. Applicants should know when to expect a

decision, as it affects their business decisions and quality of life.

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Increase Transparency

Information about applications should be simplified so it is more user

friendly. According to one of our respondents: The flow-charts and FAQ sheets on
the USCIS websites all assume a high-level of understanding on the part of clients.
As an immigration attorney, sometimes even I am unable to rely on the information
intended to be helpful to clients. People can make huge mistakes quite easily just by
attempting to follow instructions available to the public.
USCIS should explain why an application was rejected (incomplete forms,
visas caps, etc.).
Improve the Technology

Create an online platform (available in different languages) where people can

submit visa applications, scans of required documents, and track each stage of their
application. As one respondent explained: Each step of the application process
should be much more transparent. The current black box is very frustrating. There
are already companies working on these improvements that could be valuable
partners to the administration.
While an application is being processed, applicants should be able to track
their application through each stage of the process online.

Moving Forward
In our work on immigration reform, we have encountered many talented entrepreneurs
and recent graduates with no clear pathway to start and grow their businesses in the
United States. For every aspiring entrepreneur we turn away, we lose out on innovative
ideas, contributions to our local economies, and American jobs. FWD.us supports the
administrations efforts to enhance immigration options for innovators and job creators.
This brief has provided insight into the realities faced by entrepreneurs trying to build
successful businesses. We hope this insight will help White House policy makers craft
realistic eligibility criteria for the program, and generate new ideas for streamlining the
immigration process. FWD.us is committed to ensuring the Entrepreneur Pathways is a

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success. We are launching a campaign that will 1) educate the public about the need for
this program, 2) drive participation in the public comment process and 3) generate support
from the public and policymakers.
As an organization whose mission is to nurture the growing intersection between tech and
politics, we will continue to connect members of the tech community to the administration.
Part of our next steps will be to ask our supporters to sign onto this brief in support of the
recommendations. FWD.us is proud to ensure that the community has a voice in shaping
this important program.

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